Burkholderia cepcacia (formerly Pseudomonas cepacia) is a naturally occurring, motile, non-fermentative, aerobic, gram-negative bacillus bacterium. This bacterium is commonly found in liquid reservoirs and moist environments and is a frequent colonizer of fluids utilized in the hospital ie: IV fluids, irrigation solutions etc. .
Being an opportunistic pathogen, Burkholderia cepcacia (B. cepcacia) is only capable of causing disease in immunocompromised individuals. Sufferers of cystic fibrosis are vulnerable to predatory infections like B. cepacia due to the accumulation of mucus in the lungs. Mechanically ventilated patients are also vulnerable to pathogens such as B. cepacia in their mouths and upper airways because of their inability to maintain the mucociliary and cough mechanisms that normally protect the lower respiratory tract. Transmission of B. cepacia is facilitated by close personal contact and by certain bacterial factors such as high colonization of B. cepacia in fluids used hospitals.
B. cepacia is highly heterogeneous and is composed of at least nine species, all of which have the ability, in varying degrees, to cause B. cepacia infections in CF and mechanically ventilated patients.
Signs and symptoms of this type of infection include tachypnea, shaking chills, pyrexia, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, necrotising invasive infections, and death.
There are a number of potential factors that may contribute to pathogeneses of .
B. cepacia in CF patients and mechanically ventilated patients. These include LPS, cable pili, siderophores, hemolysins, protease, lipases, BCESM, quorum sensing systems, and potentially others. There is no clear correlation between the presence or absence of most of these factors and virulence, although BCESM and cable pili have been associated with epidemic strains. All species of the B. cepacia complex should be considered to be potentially harmful in terms of exposure to susceptible patients such as those with CF.
