Molecular identification of Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from intensive care units and their antimicrobial resistance patterns.
BACKGROUND
Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most important pathogens in hospital-acquired infections especially in intensive care units (ICUs). This opportunistic pathogen can be easily isolated from water, soil, and hospital facilities. A. baumannii as a nosocomial opportunistic pathogen is resistant to a wide range of antibiotics and responsible for multiple infections, including bacteremia, pneumonia, meningitis, urinary tract infections, and surgical wounds. The aim of this study was to determine frequency and resistance patterns of A. baumannii isolated in ICUs of Isfahan Hospitals.


METHODS
During 1 year period (2012-2013), 350 specimens were collected from ICUs of Isfahan hospitals. The isolates were characterized as A. baumannii by conventional phenotypic, biochemical tests and confirmed by PCR for OXA-51-like gene. Susceptibility of isolates was determined by standard disk diffusion method according to CLSI.


RESULTS
From total of 350 specimens, 43 isolates were A. baumannii. The antimicrobial patterns of isolates showed that 53.5% of isolates were resistant to amikacin, 83.7% to tetracyclin, 86% to ceftazidime, 90.7% to Trimethoprim sulfametoxazol, 93% to imipenem, cefepime, meropenem, ampicillin-sulbactam. All isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed a high resistance of A. baumannii to a wide range of antimicrobial agent. It is necessary to adopt appropriate strategies to control the spread of the bacteria in care unit centers and wards.
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Hasan
H
Ghajavand
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Bahram Nasr
BN
Esfahani
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Seyed Asghar
SA
Havaei
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Sharareh
S
Moghim
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Hossein
H
Fazeli
A. baumannii; antibiotic resistance pattern; blaOXA-51-like gene; intensive care units; molecular method