The Magnitude of Cystic Fibrosis Health Hazard in Egypt

Abstract

Cystic fibrosis IS a multisystem disorders affecting ductal system lined by epithelial cell, consequently, the disease affects the lung, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, hepatobiliary tree, endocrine glands, reproductive system and sweat glands. However, mortality and morbidity are dominated by the progression of pulmonary infection which is mainly due to two main bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas cepacia and the accompanying complex, self damaging inflammatory host responses to both these organisms. The golden test for the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis is sweat chloride test. However in Egypt there's no selection criteria to increase the positive predictive value in the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis using sweat chloride test.