Epidemiology of cystic fibrosis respiratory pathogens isolated at a South African Hospital, 2006–2010

Background: The epidemiology of cystic fibrosis (CF) associated pathogens other than Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the South African cystic fibrosis population has not been previously described.Methods: A retrospective review of respiratory cultures taken from cystic fibrosis clinic patients at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital from 2006 to 2010 was performed.Results: During the study period, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Burkholderia cepacia complex and Candida albicans prevalence remained stable, Aspergillus fumigatus increased from 8% to 20% (p = 0.0132); Staphylococcus aureus decreased from 66% to 50% (p = 0.0243) and Haemophilus influenzae decreased from 13% to 3% (p = 0.0136). There were significant antimicrobial susceptibility changes to meropenem (p 0.0001) amongst P. aeruginosa isolates and cloxacillin (p 0.0001) amongst S. aureus isolates. Prevalence of most bacterial pathogens appeared to increase with increasing age.Conclusion: The findings of this study illustrate the epidemiology of CF associated respiratory pathogens and the trends in prevalence and susceptibility patterns over a 5-year period.