The skin as the source of Acinetobacter and Moraxella species occurring in blood cultures

A study was made of the flora of the skin in hospital inpatients and healthy people to demonstrate the presence of non-fermenting Gram-negative rods of the Acinetobacter and Moraxella group. These organisms were found to be present on the skin of 34.3% of inpatients and occurred even more commonly in those patients with kidney disease. It was also present on the skin of 20% of a group of healthy members of staff. This rather high rate of skin carriage is thought to account for the not infrequent occurrence of this organism in blood cultures.