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Acinetobacter baumannii is a species of pathogenic bacteria which forms opportunistic infections. It preys exclusively on the weakest of the weak and the sickest of the sick, slipping into the body through open wounds, catheters, and breathing tubes. Colonisation poses no threat to people who aren't already ill, but colonized health care workers and hospital visitors can carry the bacteria into neighboring wards and other medical facilities.[1] The number of nosocomial infections caused by A. baumannii has increased in recent years. Most A. baumannii isolates are multiresistant, containing in their genome small, isolated islands of alien (meaning transmitted genetically from other organisms) DNA and other cytological and genetic material; this has led to more virulence. Nosocomial A. baumannii bacteremia may cause severe clinical disease that is associated with a high mortality rate of up to 75%.[2] There have been many reports of A. baumannii infections among soldiers wounded in Iraq.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Steve Silberman. "The Invisible Enemy", Wired. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ Cisneros J, Reyes M, Pachón J, Becerril B, Caballero F, García-Garmendía J, Ortiz C, Cobacho A (1996). "Bacteremia due to Acinetobacter baumannii: epidemiology, clinical findings, and prognostic features". Clin Infect Dis 22 (6): 1026-32. PMID 8783704. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
- ^ Acinetobacter baumannii in Iraq. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
