摘要
Over the last three decades, Acinetobacter has gained importance as a leading nosocomial pathogen, partly due to its impressive genetic capabilities to acquire resistance and partly due to high selective pressure, especially in critical care units. This low-virulence organism has turned into a multidrug resistant pathogen and now alarming healthcare providers worldwide. Acinetobacter baumanni(A. baumannii) is a major species, contributing about 80% of all Acinetobacter hospital-acquired infections. It disseminates antibiotic resistance by virtue of its extraordinary ability to accept or donate resistance plasmids. The procedures for breaking the route of transmission are still proper hand washing and personal hygiene(both the patient and the healthcare professional), reducing patient's biofilm burden from skin, and judicious use of antimicrobial agents. The increasing incidence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and carbapenemases in A. baumannii leaves almost no cure for these "bad bugs".To control hospital outbreaks of multidrug resistantAcinetobacter infection, we need to contain their dissemination or require new drugs or a rational combination therapy. The optimal treatment for multidrug-resistant A. baumannii infection has not been clearly established, and empirical therapy continues to require knowledge of susceptibility patterns of isolates from one's own institution. This review mainly focused on general features and introduction to A. baumannii and its epidemiological status, potential sources of infection, risk factors, and strategies to control infection to minimize spread.
Over the last three decades, Acinetobacter has gained importance as a leading nosocomial pathogen, partly due to its impressive genetic capabilities to acquire resistance and partly due to high selective pressure, especially in critical care units. This low-virulence organism has turned into a multidrug resistant pathogen and now alarming healthcare providers worldwide. Acinetobacter baumanni(A. baumannii) is a major species, contributing about 80% of all Acinetobacter hospital-acquired infections. It disseminates antibiotic resistance by virtue of its extraordinary ability to accept or donate resistance plasmids. The procedures for breaking the route of transmission are still proper hand washing and personal hygiene(both the patient and the healthcare professional), reducing patient's biofilm burden from skin, and judicious use of antimicrobial agents. The increasing incidence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and carbapenemases in A. baumannii leaves almost no cure for these "bad bugs".To control hospital outbreaks of multidrug resistantAcinetobacter infection, we need to contain their dissemination or require new drugs or a rational combination therapy. The optimal treatment for multidrug-resistant A. baumannii infection has not been clearly established, and empirical therapy continues to require knowledge of susceptibility patterns of isolates from one's own institution. This review mainly focused on general features and introduction to A. baumannii and its epidemiological status, potential sources of infection, risk factors, and strategies to control infection to minimize spread.
作者简介
Correspondence to:Suresh G Joshi,MD,PhD,Surgical and Nosocomial Infections Research Program,Drexel University College of Medicine,245 North 15th Street,Suite 7150,Mail 413,Philadelphia,PA 19102,United States.suresh.joshi@Drexelmed.edu Telephone:+1-215-7628431 Fax:+1-215-7628389.
