May 27, 2010
The Question
What have been the trends in resistance of Acinetobacter in US Hospitals in recent years?
What we found
Using the largest sample size to date, we examined US national and regional trends in rates of imipenem resistance among clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species collected from hospital inpatients.
Why it matters
Increasing carbapenem resistance among Acinetobacter species in United States hospitals has been documented in recent studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, these reports were limited by the number of Acinetobacter isolates examined and were not based on nationally representative samples of US hospitals. This study confirmed substantial increases in the frequency of imipenem resistance among clinical Acinetobacter isolates in recent years. Resistant Acinetobacter species should be a high priority for disease control.
