Infectious Microbes & Diseases (Dec 2021)

Control of an Intermittent Outbreak Caused by an Emerging Pandrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Clone ST457 in a Tertiary Hospital

  • Chuqiu Zhang,
  • Tingting Xu,
  • Yang Ji,
  • Wenping Zheng,
  • Jingsong Wu,
  • Yuemei Lu,
  • Huiping Li,
  • Rongchang Chen,
  • Chen Qiu,
  • Kai Zhou,
  • Yonghong Xiao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1097/IM9.0000000000000066
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 4
pp. 210 – 213

Abstract

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Abstract. Acinetobacter baumannii is a frequent cause of nosocomial infections. Here we report an intermittent outbreak caused by the emerging carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) clone ST457 and assess the effectiveness of patient screening for outbreak control. CRAB isolates were collected from 74 patients admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital between May 2018 and March 2019. Fourteen CRAB isolates were assigned to ST457, and 13 belonged to an outbreak clone, as determined by phylogenomic analysis. Strict patient screening was started at the respiratory intensive care unit on May 2019, through which a ST457-positive patient transferred from the intensive care unit was detected. No positive patients were detected within 3 months onwards. The results of this study highlight the importance of rigorous infection prevention and control measures, combined with patient screening, in controlling the CRAB outbreak.