Epidemiological surveillance of Acinetobacter species

Two hundred and sixty Acinetobacter isolates were recovered from 237 patients over a 2-year period; 156 isolates from 135 spinal cord injuries unit (SCIU) patients and 104 isolates from 102 patients in all the other hospital units. In SCIU patients, 133 isolates were recovered from the urine, 21 from wounds and aspirates, one from sputum and one from blood culture. In non-SCIU patients, 12 isolates were recovered from urine, 43 from wounds and aspirates, 48 from sputum and one from blood culture. Sixty-nine percent of isolates from SCIU patients showed resistance to gentamicin compared to 3% from non-SCIU patients. Gentamicin-resistant Acinetobacter anitratus was recovered from many environmental sites in the SCIU wards and from the hands of seven of 94 SCIU staff members tested. Serial rectal swabs were obtained from 79 newly-diagnosed SCIU patients. Ninety-two percent of those patients followed for up to 5 months acquired gentamicin-resistant Acinetobacter anitratus in their intestinal tract. API 2ONE profiles and antibiograms suggested that two distinct gentamicin-resistant strains of A. anitratus had become endemic in the SCIU and that nosocomial transmission was a frequent occurrence.