In vivo Fitness of <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> Strains in Murine Infection Is Associated with International Lineage II-rep-2 and International Lineage III Clones Showing High Case Fatality Rates in Human Infections

Abstract

We previously reported that the 14-day case fatality rate (CFR) in patients with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) bacteremia varied between infecting clones. Here, we evaluated the in vitro and in vivo fitness of CRAB blood isolates belonging to clones with low CFR (10CFU/g, p 10CFU/g, p p < 0.01). These results suggest that in vivo but not in vitro fitness is associated with high CFR clones.

Keywords

• carbepenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> (CRAB)
• fitness
• in vitro growth curve assay
• in vivo murine infection model
• outcome
• 14-day mortality