January 03, 2011
An interesting article on managing antibiotic-resistant infections during wartime: Acinetobacter baumannii: A Highly Successful Pathogen in Wartime: Inter- and Intrahospital Transmission.
Drug-resistant A. baumannii is a gram-negative bacteria found primarily in hospital, and particularly ICU, settings. It can cause serious challenges to infection control due to its specific resistance mechanisms. Its molecular characteristics allow cells to trade resistance genes. It can survive on dry surfaces for nearly two weeks significantly longer than other gram-negative bacteria. And these factors have been compounded by the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics over time, which has sped the evolution of resistance at an alarming rate.
All of these elements present particular obstacles during wartime, as a high number of wounded patients move frequently among health care facilities, spreading resistant bacteria. This article delves into a detailed exploration of the biology of A. baumannii resistance, as well as practices to curtail it.
Watch a visualization of how A. baumannii resistance to imipenem–a powerful carbapenem antibiotic–has grown in the United States at Extending the Cure’s ResistanceMap.
Image credit: Flickr: Defence Images
