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The Epidemiology of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii Does the Community Represent a Reservoir?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Cosmina Zeana ,
Elaine Larson ,
Jyoti Sahni ,
S. J. Bayuga ,
Fann Wu  and
Phyllis Della-Latta
Cosmina Zeana*
Affiliation:
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York
Elaine Larson
Affiliation:
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York
Jyoti Sahni
Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
S. J. Bayuga
Affiliation:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Fann Wu
Affiliation:
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York
Phyllis Della-Latta
Affiliation:
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York
*
Harlem Hospital, 506 Lenox Avenue, Room 3101 A, New York, NY 10037
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Abstract

Objective:

To explore the role of the community as a potential reservoir for Acinetobacter baumannii.

Design:

Antimicrobial resistance patterns and genotypes of A. baumannii isolates from patients in two Manhattan hospitals were compared with those of A. baumannii isolates from the hands of community members.

Results:

A total of 103 isolates from two hospitals (hospital A, 81; hospital B, 22) and 23 isolates from community residents were studied. Of the hospital isolates, 36.6% were multidrug resistant (hospital A, 68.2%; hospital B, 27.8%). In contrast, there were no multidrug-resistant isolates from the community (P < .005 between hospital and community). The prevalence of A. baumannii on the hands of community residents was 10.4% (23 of 222). By molecular typing, 42 strains of A. baumannii were identified. Of the isolates from hospital A and hospital B, 55.6% (45 of 81) and 68.2% (15 of 22), respectively, were indistinguishable or closely related. In contrast, most community (83.3%) isolates were unrelated (P = .001 between hospital and community).

Conclusion:

Acinetobacter isolates from the community, characterized by a large variety of unrelated strains (83.3%), were distinct from the hospital isolates, of which 58.3% were closely related. The absence of multidrug-resistant strains in the community compared with 36.6% prevalence among hospital isolates suggests that the reservoir for epidemic strains resides in the hospital environment itself. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the community as a potential reservoir for hospital strains of A. baumannii.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , April 2003 , pp. 275 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2003

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