Abstract
BackgroundA nosocomial outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) infections occurred among intensive care units (ICU) (surgery, medical, cardiovascular surgery, coronary unit) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical School (Rize, Turkey) between January 2011 and May 2012. The identification of isolates and clonal relation among them were investigated by molecular techniques.MethodsA total of 109 AB isolates were obtained from 64 clinical materials from 54 ICU patients and 3 from the hands of healthcare workers (HCWs) of 42 environmental samples. The isolates were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing and OXA- specific PCR. The clonal relation between isolates was investigated by PFGE methods using ApaI restriction enzyme.ResultsAll isolates were determined as AB by 16S rDNA sequencing and OXA-spesific PCR. While the blaOXA-51-like gene was amplified in all isolates, the blaOXA-23-like gene was amplified from 103 isolates. The PFGE pattern generated 9 pulsotypes and showed that the isolates from patients, HCWs, and the environment were genetically related. In 7 of these pulsotypes, there were 107 strains (98%) showing similar PFGE profiles that cannot be distinguished from each other, ranging from 2 to 53. The remaining 2 pulsotypes were comprised of strains closely associated with the main cluster. Two major groups were discovered with similarity coefficient of 85% and above. The first group consisted of 97 strains that are similar to each other at 92.7% rate, and the second group consisted of 12 strains that are 100% identical.ConclusionsThe common utilization of the blood gas device among ICU was the reason for the contamination. AB strains can remain stable for a long period of time, although due to the disinfection procedures applied in hospitals, there is a small chance that the same clone might reappear and cause another epidemic. For that reason, the resistance profiles of the strains must be continuously followed with amplification-based methods, and these methods should be used to support the PFGE method in the short term.
Highlights
A nosocomial outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) infections occurred among intensive care units (ICU) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical School (Rize, Turkey) between January 2011 and May 2012
This study assessed the epidemic level of AB found in intensive care units (ICU) from Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Hospital (RTEUH) between January 2011 and May 2012
Samples were obtained from each ICU separately, from intravenous (IV) catheters, medication solutions, IV solutions, ICU environments, surfaces of the study areas, ventilators, laryngoscopy knives, incubators, taps, sinks, drug containers, IV drop supporters, monitors, tables, feeding pumps, patients’ charts or fields, mechanic ventilation (MV) equipment, intubation tubes, intubation knives, resuscitation equipment, resuscitation cars, and blood gas devices located in the corridor, comprising 8 square meters between surgery and the cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit (CVSICU)
Summary
A nosocomial outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) infections occurred among intensive care units (ICU) (surgery, medical, cardiovascular surgery, coronary unit) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical School (Rize, Turkey) between January 2011 and May 2012. This study assessed the epidemic level of AB found in intensive care units (ICU) (surgery, medical, cardiovascular surgery, coronary care unit) from Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Hospital (RTEUH) between January 2011 and May 2012. It evaluated its source, probable avenues of contamination, and its clonal relations to determine the effective control measurements for AB in RTEUH, which is a public hospital with 450 beds. In a one and a half year period (January 2011 through May 2012), the number of patients hospitalized for RTEUH was 51,828, of which 1,132 were admitted to intensive care units
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
