@entity7665 has been isolated increasingly often from the respiratory tracts of @entity1577 ( @entity1577 ) @entity1 . It is not known whether these organisms are transmitted from @entity1 to @entity1 or acquired from environmental sources. Here, colony morphology and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern were examined for 71 isolates of @entity7665 derived from 14 @entity1577 @entity1 , three non- @entity1577 @entity1 with chronic respiratory @entity7665 infection or colonization, one @entity1 with @entity2267 , and four @entity1 with infected wounds, as well as for six isolates identified as environmental contaminants in various clinical specimens. Contaminants and wound isolates mainly exhibited smooth colony morphology, while a rough colony phenotype was significantly associated with chronic airway colonization (P=0.014). Rough strains may exhibit increased airway-colonizing capacity, the cause of which remains to be determined. Examination by PFGE of consecutive isolates from the same @entity1 showed that they all represented a single strain, even in cases where both smooth and rough isolates were present. When PFGE patterns were compared, it was shown that 24 @entity1 had unique strains, while four @entity1 harbored strains indistinguishable by PFGE. Two of these were siblings with @entity1577 . The other two @entity1 , one of whom had @entity1577 , had not had contact with each other or with the siblings. Our results show that most @entity1 colonized by @entity7665 in the airways have unique strains, indicating that these strains derive from the environment and that @entity1 -to- @entity1 transmission rarely occurs.

Molecular epidemiology of @entity7665 , with focus on XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient', 'person'] @entity7665 :: ('36809', 'Species') :: ['M. abscessus', 'Mycobacterium abscessus'] @entity1577 :: ('MESH:D003550', 'Disease') :: ['CF', 'cystic fibrosis'] @entity2267 :: ('MESH:D008417', 'Disease') :: ['mastoiditis']
@entity1577 :: (MESH:D003550,Disease) :: ['cystic fibrosis']
