Molecular typing of Acinetobacter baumannii by automated repetitive-sequence-based PCR

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii has been increasingly reported as a significant causative organism of various nosocomial infections. Here we describe three different outbreaks of multidrug resistant A. baumannii started in the Intensitive Care Unit and then involving other wards of San Carlo Borromeo hospital in Milan, Italy. In order to characterize the clinical strains isolates, molecular typing using semi-automated repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) was performed.Among the sixty-one strains analyzed, three main cluster (C1, C2, C3) were detected: C1 included six indistinguishable strains, C2 five and C3 thirty. No correlation was observed between chemosensitivity and ribotyping pattern and an high rate of carbapenems resistance was founded.

Keywords

• Acinetobacter baumannii, Outbreak, Ribotyping