Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen that seriously affects sick patients, causing Health Care Associated Infections (HCAI) such as pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation, urinary tract infections and bacteremia, in recent years this bacterium has become a health problem worldwide, its isolation from infections present in hospitalized patients has been increasing, and it also has various mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics. The present documentary research aims to describe the mechanisms of pathogenicity and resistance to antibiotics used by Acinetobacter baumannii as a causal agent of HCAI. To carry out this work, a literature search was carried out in databases such as: Scielo, PubMed, NCBI, and Elsevier. The pathogenicity mechanisms that allow it to colonize and develop infections in hospitalized patients are: porins, biofilms, pili, lipopolysaccharides, phospholipases, outer membrane vesicles and the production of siderophores. It has enzymatic resistance mechanisms such as beta-lactamases and non-enzymatic mechanisms such as porin modification, efflux pumps, and modifications in DNA gyrase. There are extrinsic factors that favor the development of HCAI, such as the immunological and health condition of the patient, as well as the association with medical equipment. Studies carried out between the years 2005 to 2018 reveal that A. baumannii is one of the main causative agents of pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation in patients admitted to the Intensive care unit.
Highlights
Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen that affects severely ill patients [1]
A. baumannii belongs to the group of non-fermenting bacilli, with Gram staining, this bacterium is observed in the form of cocci or coccobacilli, it is gram-negative, oxidase negative, strictly aerobic and immobile, in addition, it is one of the most frequent bacteria isolated in clinical laboratories and is characterized by resistance to penicillin [3]
A. baumannii has become a major health problem worldwide; It is attributed as the cause of various infections such as; bacteremia, urinary tract infections, but above all as a cause of nosocomial pneumonia, especially those associated with mechanical ventilation in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) [7], being responsible for 2% to 10% of hospital infections caused by gram-negative bacteria [8]
Summary
Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen that affects severely ill patients [1]. It is widely distributed in nature, almost 100% of the samples from soil and water develop this bacterium, so any humid hospital environment can serve as an environmental reservoir [2]. A. baumannii belongs to the group of non-fermenting bacilli, with Gram staining, this bacterium is observed in the form of cocci or coccobacilli, it is gram-negative, oxidase negative, strictly aerobic and immobile, in addition, it is one of the most frequent bacteria isolated in clinical laboratories and is characterized by resistance to penicillin [3]. The antibiotic resistance is the ability of some bacteria to survive in the presence of said antibiotic at different concentrations [4]. The pathogenicity mechanisms that this bacterium possesses to be one of the main causes of Infections Associated with Health Care HCAI, formerly called nosocomial or hospital infections, are addressed, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines HCAI as “infections contracted by a patient during their
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