Acinetobacter in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii, an increasingly common hospital pathogen, is notable for its ability to colonise and infect the more vulnerable among hospital patients. The species also has the capacity to acquire antibiotic resistance determinants and thus restrict antibiotic options. Survival and persistence on inanimate environmental surfaces assists its spread within the hospital. A. baumannii has caused several reported outbreaks in intensive care units, in several of which respiratory support equipment was implicated as a vehicle or reservoir. Aspects of ventilator circuit design provide a potential portal of entry to the patient's lower respiratory tract that A. baumannii is able to exploit. Recognition of these critical microbial entry points, particularly the temperature probe and its socket, may provide a means of curtailing Acinetobacter outbreaks in intensive care patients.