Typing of Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from hospital-acquired respiratory infections in a tertiary care centre in southern India.

In an attempt to define the epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii infection, 27 isolates, obtained from hospital-acquired respiratory infections, were typed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profile and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Ten different patterns were obtained with ERIC2 primer: 14 isolates had a similar profile representing a single strain. Within RAPD types, isolates could be further classified based on their antibiogram; however, strains of different types had similar antibiograms. This study showed that many different genetic types of A. baumannii are prevalent in our hospital. While antibiograms alone are not sufficiently discriminatory, RAPD typing helps in identifying outbreaks and in assessing infection control procedures within a hospital. Copyright 2001 The Hospital Infection Society.