Acinetobacter baumannii: insights towards a comprehensive approach for the prevention of outbreaks in health-care facilities

Acinetobacter baumannii is known to be an opportunistic pathogen frequently responsible for outbreaks in health-care facilities, particularly in Intensive Care Units (ICU). It can easily survive in the hospital setting for long periods and can be transmitted throughout the hospital in a variety of ways, explored in this review. It can also easily acquire antibiotic resistance determinants rendering several antibiotic drugs useless. In 2019, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) considered the organism as an urgent threat. The aim of this review was to raise the awareness of the medical community about the relevance of this pathogen and discuss how it may impact seriously the healthcare institutions particularly in the aftermath of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. PubMed was searched, and articles that met inclusion criteria were reviewed. We conclude by the need to raise awareness to this pathogen's relevance and to encourage the implementation of preventive measures in order to mitigate its consequences namely the triage of specific high-risk patients.

Automated summary

Acinetobacter baumannii is a common opportunistic pathogen that frequently causes outbreaks in healthcare facilities, especially in Intensive Care Units (ICU). It can survive for extended periods in the hospital environment and can be transmitted through various means. Additionally, it easily acquires antibiotic resistance genes, rendering many antibiotics ineffective. This review aims to increase awareness among the medical community about the significance of this pathogen and discuss its potential impact on healthcare institutions, particularly in the aftermath of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the need to recognize the importance of this pathogen and implement preventive measures to mitigate its consequences, including the triage of high-risk patients.