Acinetobacter baumannii was considered endemic in a university-affiliated tertiary hospital. A significant increase was noted in the proportion of nosocomial infections associated with this micro-organism from 1996 to 1999, although no apparent clusters could be found. Between July 1998 and February 2000, 58 nosocomial isolates of A. baumannii were collected and characterized by antibiotyping and a genotyping method, infrequent-restriction-site PCR (IRS-PCR). High resistance to the 14 antimicrobial agents examined was observed among the isolates. Of the 13 antibiograms detected, eight were multi-resistant to gentamicin and almost all of the traditional and extended-spectrum beta-lactams. These multi-resistant strains consisted of 41 isolates (71%), distributed amongst different wards and intensive care units (ICUs). By IRS-PCR, 23 types were obtained, with one major type found among 28 (48%) isolates. All of these 28 isolates were collected from surgical ICUs. It appears that a single strain of multi-resistant A. baumannii was responsible for the prevalence of nosocomial infection amongst surgical patients, clearly differentiating this outbreak from the previous endemic situation. An efficient molecular typing method played a vital role in making this discrimination.
Copyright 2002 The Hospital Infection Society.