title: Alert surveillance of intensive care unit-acquired Acinetobacter infections in a Sicilian hospital.
abstract: The epidemiological impact of Acinetobacter baumannii nosocomial infections in a Sicilian intensive care unit (ICU) was investigated to determine the Acinetobacter-specific infection rates, to estimate the preventable proportion of Acinetobacter infections, i.e., those resulting from cross-transmission, and to investigate the molecular epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter. The impact of Acinetobacter nosocomial infection in the ICU was determined to be 3.0 new cases per 100 admissions. Site-specific rates confirmed that ICU-acquired pneumonia was the most important infection type. The incidence rate, adjusted by the number of patient-days, was 3.3 infections/1000 patient-days. The estimated preventable proportion of A. baumannii nosocomial infections in the ICU was 66.7%. A class 1 integron, characterised by its gene cassette content, was present in all A. baumannii isolates of four different pulsed-field gel electrophoresis types, and was associated significantly with clones implicated in cross-transmission episodes. Furthermore, the same integron was detected in two genetically distinct isolates responsible for recurrent infection in the same patient, suggesting the occurrence of horizontal gene transfer in vivo. Even in an endemic setting with low infection rates, spread of A. baumannii was caused mainly by infection control shortcomings that require appropriate surveillance and control policies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. agodia@unict.it
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agodi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zarrilli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barchitta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anzaldi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Popolo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mattaliano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghiraldi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Travali
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D006801:Humans; D015378:Imipenem / Q000494:pharmacology; D032023:Integrons / Q000235:genetics; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D000077731:Meropenem; D009017:Morbidity; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000453:epidemiology; D013845:Thienamycins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013845:Thienamycins; D015378:Imipenem; D000077731:Meropenem