BACKGROUND: @entity796 is a major @entity1577 ( @entity1577 ) pathogen causing chronic @entity1729 and posing a risk for @entity580 between @entity1 with @entity1577 . AIM: To propose an algorithm for long-term surveillance of @entity796 and assess its suitability for monitoring the epidemiological situation at a @entity1577 centre with approximately 300 @entity1 . METHODS: Over a nine-year period, over 300 @entity796 isolates from 131 infected @entity1 were tested by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and/or random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay. FINDINGS: MLST analysis led to the identification of 97 different sequence types which were distributed among 17 RAPD-generated (pseudo)clusters. This indicates that the easy-to-perform RAPD assay is only suitable for intra-individual, not interindividual, strain analyses. No epidemic strains were observed. Longitudinal analysis revealed that 110 of the 131 @entity1 were infected with the same strain over the observation period, whereas 21 @entity1 had a strain replacement or a new @entity281 . @entity281 was found in 99 of the 131 @entity1 , and the remaining 32 @entity1 met the criteria for intermittent @entity281 (as defined by the Leeds criteria). Eighteen of the 32 @entity1 (56%) with intermittent @entity281 were infected with the same strain for up to nine years. CONCLUSION: The strain type only changed in 16% of 131 @entity1 with chronic or intermittent @entity281 . As many as 56% of @entity1 considered to have intermittent @entity281 were actually chronically infected with the same strain for many years.

How and why to monitor @entity796 XXXX in the long term at a @entity1577 centre.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity796 :: ('287', 'Species') :: ['Pseudomonas aeruginosa', 'P.  aeruginosa'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['infection', 'Chronic infection'] @entity1729 :: ('MESH:D012141', 'Disease') :: ['respiratory infections'] @entity580 :: ('MESH:D003428', 'Disease') :: ['cross-infection'] @entity1577 :: ('MESH:D003550', 'Disease') :: ['CF', 'cystic fibrosis']
@entity281 :: (MESH:D007239,Disease) :: ['infections']
