ArticleMaterials (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Biofilm on Toothbrushes of Children with Cystic Fibrosis: A Potential Source of Lung Re-Infection after Antibiotic Treatment?
Article in Materials (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pseudomonas Reinfection in a Patient With Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia: How a Toothbrush Could Make You Sick.Cureus · 2025Article
- Biofilm Formation byInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Frequent recurrent lung infections result in irreversible lung damage in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). This study aimed to determine if toothbrushes contain biofilms of pathogens, and act as potential reservoirs for lung re-infection following antibiotic treatment of acute exacerbations. Toothbrushes were collected from children with CF of lung infection before, during and after antibiotic treatment. Toothbrushes were rinsed with sterile saline and cultured. Bacterial isolates from toothbrushes were identified by 16s rRNA gene sequencing and compared with isolates from a sputum sample of the same patient. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to visually confirm the presence of bacterial biofilms and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) combined with Live/Dead stain to confirm bacterial viability. Large numbers of bacteria and biofilms were present on all toothbrushes. SEM confirmed the presence of biofilms and CLSM confirmed bacterial viability on all toothbrushes. Pathogens identified on toothbrushes from children before and during antibiotics treatment were in concordance with the species found in sputum samples.
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Registered trials
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