BIOTYPES, SEROVARS AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PATTERNS OF ACINETOBACTER-BAUMANNII CLINICAL ISOLATES

255 Acinetobacter strains, from clinical specimens of inpatients and o utpatients, were identified phenotypically according to the new taxono my proposed by Bouvet and Grimont. A. baumannii was the most frequent species (80.8%). This species underwent biotyping and serotyping accor ding to the scheme of Bouvet and Grimont, and that of Traub, respectiv ely. 81.2% of samples belonged to biotypes 2, 6 and 9 with a predomina nce of biotype 2. 86.6% of the strains could be serotyped; 2 new serot ypes were encountered. The new serotype 29, being the most frequently isolated, was related to biotype 2 (86.6%), whereas serotype 13 was re lated to biotype 6 (84.8%). These clones presented marked multiple res istance patterns and were widespread in different wards. No outbreak w as reported during the period studied. These phenotypical methods prov ed to be useful in differentiating strains of A. baumannii and, if use d together, they showed a high discriminatory power.