Cystic fibrosis is considered viral as virus that have been shown to affect people with Cystic Fibrosis include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human rhinovirus (RV), Influenza types A and B, and parainfluenza, all belonging to families of RNA viruses.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal-recessive genetic disease.
More than 60,000 people worldwide suffer from this illness.
The CF gene, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, was found in 1989.
CF is characterized by chronic inflammation, bacterial colonization and recurrent infections of the lung, resulting in irreversible deterioration of lung function and early death.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important pathogens.
Chronic colonization of the airways with P.
However a number of bacterial species have been identified as major respiratory pathogens in CF, including Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, P. aeruginosa, and Burkholderia complex (3, 26). S. aureus is the most frequently isolated bacterial pathogen in CF pediatric populations, whereas P.
Cepacia, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus are the most important infectious agents in cystic fibrosis patients.
Repeated lung infections eventually lead to lung damage.
The mutated CFTR gene that causes cystic fibrosis means that a thick, sticky mucus builds up in the lungs, pancreas, and other organs.
In the lungs, this mucus allows germs to settle in and grow, clogging the airways and making it harder to breathe.
Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited disease caused by a defective gene that can be passed from generation to generation.
Cystic fibrosis affects the cells that produce mucus, sweat and digestive juices.
These secreted fluids are normally thin and slippery.
But in people with CF, they're thick and sticky.
Cystic Fibrosis is transmitted in an autosomal resave manner.
Both parents must have the defective gene and pass it to their offspring to have a child with cystic fibrosis.
A couple who each has the gene has a twenty-five percent chance their children will have neither the gene nor the disease (Welsh & Smith 1995).