High prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii associated respiratory tract infections in Pakistani hospitals.

Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections in developing countries. It has a better ability to get antimicrobial resistance due to plasticity in genome. The recent emergence of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates in several countries narrows down the spectrum of options to treat A. baumannii infections. The WHO has placed carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii on the top of priority organisms against which novel antibiotics are required. A systematic evaluation of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii infections in three tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan is presented here. A total of 2270 positive culture samples were collected over a period of two years. Of which 1642 (72.33%) were respiratory tract specimens. A. baumannii was identified in 681 (41 %) cases. Of which 583 (85.5%) were carbapenem-resistant. Our findings suggest that the burden of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii infections is alarmingly high in Pakistan.