What is Acinetobacter Baumannii?

Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacterium in the Acinetobacter genus which can be dangerous for human beings who have compromised immune systems, causing opportunistic infections which can lead to death if the patient does not receive aggressive treatment. One of the biggest issues with treating Acinetobacter baumannii is that the bacterium is naturally resistant to a number of antibiotics, making it challenging to find a drug regimen which will effectively attack it in an infected patient.

This bacterium is gram negative and aerobic, thriving in a wide variety of environments. It is broadly distributed in nature, growing in both dry and wet situations, and it is commonly cultured from healthy human beings, illustrating the fact that people can carry the bacterium without experiencing infections. When carriers enter a hospital, nursing home, or similar environment with vulnerable patients, they can pass Acinetobacter baumannii on, causing serious infections. Nurses and other healthcare providers often carry Acinetobacter baumannii and other such bacteria due to their contact with large numbers of patients.

Infection commonly starts in the lungs as a result of inhaling the bacterium or being on a ventilator, and it is also associated with catheter infections. If Acinetobacter baumannii is allowed to grow, it will slowly spread into other areas of the body, colonizing the organs and eventually leading to death. Acinetobacter baumannii is considered a superbug because it is resistant to many antibiotics, and as a result infected patients have to be carefully monitored.

Many serious infections with Acinetobacter baumannii are nosocomial in nature, meaning that they were acquired in a hospital or health care facility. The risk of nosocomial infections can be reduced by carefully observing sanitation protocols such as hand washing, thoroughly wiping down rooms, and cleaning instruments and linens with techniques which will render them sterile. This techniques can sound simple, but in practice in a busy hospital they can be hard to follow, resulting in hospital-acquired infections.

Treatment for infection with this pathogenic bacteria requires starting a course of antibiotics, monitoring the patient's response, and supporting the patient medically during the treatment to keep him or her as stable as possible. If an antibiotic does not appear to be effective, a new drug will need to be used to see if it successfully eliminates the bacterium. Hospitals may also opt to culture bacteria from a patient to test potential antibiotics in the lab, and to keep track of Acinetobacter baumannii infections by closely examining the strains their patients are infected with for clues to explain their origins and spread.