Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii group organisms CRAB are challenging because the choice between targeted, new antibiotic drug options and hygiene measures should be guided by a timely identification of resistance mechanisms.
If PCR methods are not the first choice, phenotypic methods have to be implemented. While promising, the carbapenemase inactivation method CIM using meropenem-hydrolysis is, however, hampered by poor performance or overly long time-to-result. We developed a rapid CIM rCIM-A with good performance using ertapenem, imipenem, and meropenem disks, 2-h permeabilization and incubation with the test strain in trypticase soy broth, and a read-out of residual carbapenem activity after 6 h, and optionally after 16β18 h.
Keywords: carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii , novel antibacterial agents, antimicrobial resistance, molecular mechanisms, phenotypic carbapenemase detection, rapid diagnostic test, nosocomial infection, infection prevention and control, OXA-type carbapenemases, carbapenem inactivation method.
The genus Acinetobacter represents Gram-negative rods or coccobacilli with a tendency to resist destaining, non-motility in liquid media while surface-bound motility may be observed , catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, carbohydrate non-fermentative, chemo-organotrophic, and aerobic metabolism [ 1 ]. It has been proposed by GernerβSmidt et al. Genetic studies support that the ACB complex represents a phylogenetically well-defined subgroup clade within the genus cited in [ 7 ].
Since the recognition of the ACB complex, many new Acinetobacter species have been described, among which the clinically relevant and phylogenetically closely related Acinetobacter seifertii [ 7 ] and Acinetobacter lactucae [ 8 ] heterotypic syn. Acinetobacter dijkshoorniae [ 9 ] have been included in the complex.
