Actinobacter Baumannii
Professor Foxson
Bio 1500 Lab
9/22/14
Acinetobacter baumanii
Acinetobacter baumanii is multidrug resistant and is recognized to be one of the most difficult antimicrobial-resistant gram-negative bacilli to control and treat. It can survive for a prolonged period under a wide range of environmental conditions. This organism has caused outbreaks of infection and health care associated infections. Some infections include bacteremia, pneumonia, meningitis, urinary tract infection and wound infection. Due to their resistance to antibiotics there is a limit in the therapeutic options for patients with these infections (Maragakis, Perl, 2014). Molecular based strain typing by PFGE and other methods can be used to identify outbreaks of infections of A. baumanii. Due to the occurrence of infections in severely ill patients, the mortality rate has been high, ranging from 26-68% (Maragakis, Perl, 2014). Resistance mechanisms for A. baumanii have not been studied that much. The mechanisms usually fall into three categories: antimicrobial-inactivating enzymes; reduced access to bacterial targets; and mutations that change targets or cellular functions. The first category possesses a wide array of lactamases that hydrolyze and confer resistance to penicillin. Porin channels and other outer membrane proteins are used for transport of antimicrobial agents into the cell to gain access to bacterial targets. Lastly, point mutations that alter targets decrease the affinity for antimicrobial agents (Maragakis, Perl, 2014). Treatment of an A. baumanii infection is becoming more and more important. Polymyxins show reliable antimicrobial activity against A. baumanii. Minocycline and tigecycline have shown high antimicrobial activity against the infections. Still more research is needed to clarify therapeutic choices for multidrug resistant A. baumanii infections ("Current Control and Treatment of Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii Infections," 2008).
Bio 1500 Lab
9/22/14
Acinetobacter baumanii
Acinetobacter baumanii is multidrug resistant and is recognized to be one of the most difficult antimicrobial-resistant gram-negative bacilli to control and treat. It can survive for a prolonged period under a wide range of environmental conditions. This organism has caused outbreaks of infection and health care associated infections. Some infections include bacteremia, pneumonia, meningitis, urinary tract infection and wound infection. Due to their resistance to antibiotics there is a limit in the therapeutic options for patients with these infections (Maragakis, Perl, 2014). Molecular based strain typing by PFGE and other methods can be used to identify outbreaks of infections of A. baumanii. Due to the occurrence of infections in severely ill patients, the mortality rate has been high, ranging from 26-68% (Maragakis, Perl, 2014). Resistance mechanisms for A. baumanii have not been studied that much. The mechanisms usually fall into three categories: antimicrobial-inactivating enzymes; reduced access to bacterial targets; and mutations that change targets or cellular functions. The first category possesses a wide array of lactamases that hydrolyze and confer resistance to penicillin. Porin channels and other outer membrane proteins are used for transport of antimicrobial agents into the cell to gain access to bacterial targets. Lastly, point mutations that alter targets decrease the affinity for antimicrobial agents (Maragakis, Perl, 2014). Treatment of an A. baumanii infection is becoming more and more important. Polymyxins show reliable antimicrobial activity against A. baumanii. Minocycline and tigecycline have shown high antimicrobial activity against the infections. Still more research is needed to clarify therapeutic choices for multidrug resistant A. baumanii infections ("Current Control and Treatment of Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii Infections," 2008).