PREVALENCE OF ACINETOBACTER IN PATIENTS ADMITTED INTO INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN

Abstract

Acinetobacter plays an important role in the infection of patients admitted to
hospitals. Acinetobacter are free living gram-negative coccobacilli that emerge as
significant nosocomial pathogens in the hospital setting and are responsible for
intermittent outbreaks.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Acinetobacter in patients
admitted into the Intensive Care Unit, identify risk factors associated with
infection, the antibiotic susceptibility profile of the isolates and determine the
relatedness of the Acinetobacter isolates. A cross sectional study was carried out in
the Intensive Care Unit of the University College Hospital Ibadan. Samples
collected were tracheal aspirate, catheter specimen of urine, wound biopsy, and
blood all for microscopy, culture and sensitivity. The isolates were tested against
various antibiotics and the plasmid profile done to determine their relatedness. All
data were analyzed using the statistical package for Social Sciences version 15.0
program.
Fourteen (14%) of the 100 patients recruited into the study, developed
Acinetobacter infection, it consisted of 9% of the total number of isolates isolated.
Twelve (86%) of the isolates were recovered from tracheal aspirate, 1(7%) from
urine and 1(7%) from blood. Only duration of endotracheal intubation specifically
an 8-14day period was an independent risk factor for Acinetobacter. All the
isolates were resistant to Ceftriaxone, Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, and gentamicin.
Nine (64.3%) of the isolates were susceptible to Meropenem, seven (50%) were
susceptible to amikacin and five (35.7%) susceptible to levofloxacin. All of the
isolates harbor plasmids of varying molecular sizes. Ten of the fourteen
Acinetobacter were isolated at about the same period of time in the ICU with
6(42.7%) having plasmid size in the 23.1kb band and show similar pattern
revealing that the isolates exhibit some relatedness.
The clonal nature of the isolates suggest that strict infection control practices must
be adopted in ICU, also an antibiotic policy must be developed for the ICU to
prevent abuse of antibiotics that may lead to selection of resistant bacteria.

PREVALENCE OF ACINETOBACTER IN PATIENTS ADMITTED INTO INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN