BIOTYPING, RIBOTYPING AND ESTERASE ELECTROPHORESIS AS EPIDEMIOLOGIC TOOLS FOR ACINETOBACTER-BAUMANNII

An epidemiological survey was carried out over a one-week period to as sess the spread of Acinetobacter baumannii in a medical intensive care unit. Fifty strains were isolated from patients colonized or infected by the organism and from a hospital environment. These strains belong ed to biotypes 9 or 18. The rRNA gene restriction patterns (using EcoR I and Pvull as restriction endonucleases) and the esterase electrophor etic profiles were determined on 31 strains, using as comparison strai n isolates from another intensive care unit of our hospital and from t wo other French hospitals. Four EcoRI ribotypes, four Pvull ribotypes and six esterase profiles were identified. All biotype 9 strains isola ted in our hospital presented the same ribotype after EcoRI digestion, the same ribotype after Pvull digestion and the same zymotype. The sa me observation was made on most of the biotype 18 strains. Biotyping i s an appropriate method for screening of strains, and ribotyping and e sterase electrophoresis could be used as additional methods to delinea te outbreaks of nosocomial infections caused by A. baumannii.