Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 October 2002
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetic disease of Caucasians with anincidence of 1 in 2500 live births and a carriage rate of 1 in 20 individuals. CF patientscontinue to suåer from recurrent and chronic respiratory tract infections and mostof their morbidity and mortality is due to such infections throughout their life(Høiby, 1991). These infections are usually dominated by Gram-negative organisms,especially by the pseudomonads including in particular, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, aswell as members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex of organisms.