The persistence and clonal spread of a single strain of Acinetobacter 13TUin a large Scottish teaching hospital

This study describes the persistence and spread of a single strain of Acine tobacter 13TU in a large Scottish teaching hospital. Acinetobacter spp. are reported with increasing frequency as a cause of nosocomial infection. The species most implicated in these infections is Acinetobacter baumannii. Fo llowing an outbreak of infection with Acinetobacter 13TU within the intensi ve therapy unit (ITU) of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) during 1994-1995, the current epidemiological Acinetobacter situation within the hospital was monitored to determine whether or not control of infection procedures inst igated at that time had been successful in controlling the outbreak. Sixty- eight strains of Acinetobacter spp were isolated from clinical specimens re ceived from various wards in the ERI and other associated hospitals over a 7-month period. Each isolate was typed phenotypically by the API2ONE system and genotypically by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in order to c ompare them with the previous outbreak strain. Fifty-three percent of the i solates collected were originally identified as A. junii by API 20 NE, of w hich 83% (mainly from ITU) were shown to be genotypically related to the pr evious outbreak strain. Subsequent tDNA fingerprinting of one of the origin al outbreak strains showed it to be a member of the genospecies 13TU and no t A. junii as originally thought.