Antibiotic susceptibility and REP-PCR fingerprints of Acinetobacter spp. isolated from a hospital ten years apart

• Published in: The Journal of hospital infection Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 254 - 261
• Main Authors: Misbah, S., AbuBakar, S., Hassan, H., Hanifah, Y.A., Yusof, M.Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2004; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acinetobacter; Acinetobacter - classification; Acinetobacter - drug effects; Acinetobacter Infections - epidemiology; Acinetobacter Infections - microbiology; Acinetobacter Infections - prevention & control; Acinetobacter spp; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Biological and medical sciences; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Cross Infection - microbiology; Cross Infection - prevention & control; DNA Fingerprinting - methods; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Drug Resistance, Multiple; General aspects; Hospital infection; Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models; Humans; Infectious diseases; Malaysia - epidemiology; Medical sciences; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Polymerase Chain Reaction; REP-PCR; Asia; Malaysia; Hospital infection; Acinetobacter spp; REP-PCR; Antibiotic resistance; Nosocomial infection; Amikacin; Drug susceptibility test; In situ; Neisseriaceae; Carbapenem derivatives; Fluoroquinolone derivatives; Medical prescription; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Acinetobacter; Hospital; Quinolone derivatives; Typing; β-Lactams; Genotype; Polymerase chain reaction; Resistance; Antibiotic; Phenotype; Aminoglycoside; DNA; Molecular biology; Antibacterial agent; Ciprofloxacin; Comparative study; Imipenem
• ISSN: 0195-6701; 1532-2939
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2004.07.007

The antibiotic susceptibility profiles and the repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (REP-PCR)-determined genotypes of 109 Acinetobacter strains collected from the University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1987 (N=21) and 1996–1998 (N=88) were established. Twelve antibiotic susceptibility profiles of antibiotics used at the UMMC were obtained. In descending order of effectiveness, imipenem, amikacin and ciprofloxacin were the most effective against the Acinetobacter strains. Compared with 1987 isolates, the isolates obtained in 1996–1998 had decreased susceptibility to these antibiotics and were tolerant to the antibiotics up to an MIC90 of ≥256mg/L. REP-PCR DNA fingerprints of all the isolates revealed the presence of four Acinetobacter spp. lineages; 92% of all the isolates belonged to two dominant lineages (genotypes 1 and 4). Genotype 4 isolates predominant in 1987 showed increased resistance and antibiotic tolerance to imipenem, amikacin and ciprofloxacin compared with the 1996–1998 isolates. In contrast, genotype 1 isolates from 1996–1998 were mainly sensitive to these antibiotics. These findings demonstrate the presence of at least two independent Acinetobacter spp. lineages in the same hospital, and suggest the possibility that genotype 4 Acinetobacter spp. acquired the resistance phenotype in situ, whereas most of the genotype 1 isolates were probably introduced to the hospital in recent years.