Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection: pathogenesis and therapy.

Infection with the gram-negative bacillus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is less common than infections 
with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus sp; however, the mortality 
associated with pseudomonas sepsis exceeds that found with the more commonly 
isolated gram-negative bacilli by a considerable margin. While explanations exist for 
this increased virulence of pseudomonas, including secretions of toxic exoproducts and 
a high degree of antibiotic resistance, the precise reasons for such 
unfavorable clinical experience with this organism are uncertain. The current interest 
in pseudomonas infection is partly due to the ever-increasing numbers of 
immunosuppressed and granulocytopenic patients seen in clinical practice. The organism, pathogenesis, 
clinical presentations (burn patients, nosocomial infections, immunosuppressed patients, cystic fibrosis), and 
therapy are discussed. 