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Acinetobacter Outbreaks, 1977–2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Maria Virginia Villegas  and
Alan I. Hartstein
Maria Virginia Villegas
Affiliation:
Cideim Research Center, Cali, Columbia
Alan I. Hartstein*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine and the Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
*
University of Miami School of Medicine, 1400 N. W. 10th Avenue, Dominion Tower, 8th Floor, #812A, Miami, FL 33136
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Abstract

This review of Acinetobacter outbreaks summarizes factors related to the presence and recognition of organism transmission and describes the implementation of control and prevention measures directed at limiting spread. Exogenous transmission of Acinetobacter should be considered when infections are endemic and when case rates increase. Increasing or new antimicrobial resistances in a collection of isolates also suggest transmission, and transmission can be definitively confirmed when isolates are found to be indistinguishable from or related to one another by a discriminatory genotyping test. An investigation for a common source should be conducted. When a common source cannot be found and eliminated, or once an endemically transmitted organism is established, containment or prevention efforts may require aggressive interventions, complex interventions, or both. Colonization at multiple sites, the relative ease of induction of antibiotic resistance in the organism following patient exposure to multiple drugs, and long-term environmental survival provide enhanced opportunities for the transmission of Acinetobacter between and among patients. New approaches and interventional trials are needed to define effective measures for the prevention and control of Acinetobacter infections.

Type
Review
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , April 2003 , pp. 284 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2003

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