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Multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in intensive care units in Greece
A N Maniatis1, S Pournaras, S Orkopoulou
1Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Str., 41222 Larissa, Greece. maniatis@med.uth.gr
Summary
Two dominant epidemic strains of Acinetobacter baumannii are spreading across intensive care units (ICUs) in Athens, Greece. These multiresistant bacteria exhibit widespread antibiotic resistance, highlighting a significant public health concern.
Area of Science:
- Medical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in intensive care units (ICUs).
- Need to understand the genetic relatedness and dissemination patterns of resistant strains.
- Concerns regarding the effectiveness of current antibiotic treatments against Acinetobacter infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the rise of resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Athens is linked to the spread of specific epidemic strains.
- To determine the extent of inter-hospital dissemination of multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii.
- To characterize the antibiotic resistance profiles of clinical isolates.
Main Methods:
- Collection of 121 clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from nine tertiary-care hospitals in Athens.
- Antimicrobial susceptibility testing against 11 potentially active antibiotics.
- Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for clonal typing.
Main Results:
- The majority of isolates showed resistance to ampicillin-sulbactam.
- Common resistance profiles included resistance to eight or nine antibiotics.
- PFGE analysis revealed that 68% of isolates belonged to two distinct clonal groups, found across all studied ICUs.
- Evidence of inter-hospital spread of multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii.
Conclusions:
- Two major clonal groups of Acinetobacter baumannii are responsible for the majority of infections in Athens ICUs.
- These clonal groups exhibit extensive multidrug resistance, contributing to the increasing challenge of treating Acinetobacter infections.
- The findings indicate significant inter-hospital dissemination of these epidemic strains within the region.