Pseudomonas aeruginosa persisted in the airways of patients with COPD, revealed a recent research. The study conducted by Dr Josefin Eklöf and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, was based on data from 23 patients over a 1-year period and it showed that P. aeruginosa is cultured in as many as 20 percent of bacterial exacerbations and has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality in patients with COPD, though its patterns and characteristics have not been well studied. The researchers however proposed that P. aerunginosa persists in COPD patients in part because of genetic adaptations in the genes related to antibiotic resistance. The research, published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection, identified 23 consecutive patients enrolled in an ongoing randomised clinical trial and these participants were randomised 1:1 to targeted antipseudomonal antibiotic treatment for 14 days (between visit day 1 and visit day 14) or no antipseudomonal treatment.