Epidemiology and detection of acinetobacter using conventional culture and in-house developed PCR based methods

Active surveillance cultures for multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacteria is one strategy to control outbreaks. The objectives of the study are to evaluate the prevalence of Acinetobacter colonization and to compare conventional culture and in-house developed PCR based method. Swabs were collected from patients transferred from another organization or were admitted to the intensive care units. Swabs were cultured by conventional method and were tested using in-house LightCycler^® 2.0 real-time PCR method. Of 449 tested samples, the majority came from cardiac step down unit (188, 42%), male medical floor (80; 18%), and coronary care unit (66; 13.4%). Of the total specimens, 14 (3%) were positive by PCR and 12 (2.6%) were positive by routine cultures. The positivity rates among wounds, respiratory, perineal, and nasal samples were 3.2%, 9.7%, 4.6% and 0.8% respectively. Two positive samples by PCR were negative by routine culture. The overall concordance rate was 99.5% and the positive concordance rate was 85.7%. The current study revealed a low prevalence of MDR Acinetobacter among the studied population. The LightCycler^® 2.0 PCR produced comparable positive results to routine cultures.