1992 Volume 66 Issue 11 Pages 1502-1512
Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae is one of the most important pathogenic bacteria inrespiratory tract infections. H. influenzae is most frequently associated with recurrent infections inchronic respiratory tract infections (CRTIs). It is known that H. influenzae often reemerges after theantibiotic treatment has been stopped. We analyzed serotype, biotype, and the OMP patterns of H.influenzae isolates from sputum of CRTIs patients to determine whether an exacerbation is caused byan identical H. influenzae strain, or by a new H. influenzae strain. One hundred eighty nine strains ofH. influenzae were obtained from 124 exacerbation from 24 patients. The first and second isolates wereidentical in 23 out of 33 exacerbations (≤15-days interval between each exacerbation) and also in 22 outof 34 exacerbations (15<days but≤30-days interval between each exacerbation). This is called earlyrecurrence. In contrast, the first and second isolates were different in 28 out of 34 exacerbations (>30-days interval between each exacerbation). This is called late recurrence. These results suggestthat early recurrence and late recurrence of recurrent H. influenzae infections occur in a differentmechanism.
