Since 1973, ampicillin-resistant isolates of nontypeable Hemophilus influenzae have increased in prevalence and clinical significance. Previous reports, however, have primarily been restricted to otitis media.1,2Hemophilus influenzae frequently colonizes the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic bronchitis, and ampicillin-resistant strains of H influenzae have been isolated from patients with chronic bronchitis.3,4 As bronchopulmonary infection is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis,5 the occurrence of drug-resistant potential pathogens in this patient population is of importance. We retrospectively review the incidence of ampicillin-resistant strains of H influenzae and other Hemophilus species isolated from the sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Md, from January 1977 to June 1981.
Methods and Materials.—All results were retrieved by computer, using the Clinical Information Utility System at the Clinical Center of the NIH.
Sputum was