Clinical Microbiology III MLTS 144 Matthew Coburn 27 Feb 11

1. Source (and date of source) and why it got your interest: I came across this article on the CBC news website and it caught my interest because it is a good shock piece for the general public who probably do not realize how much bacteria are actually on everyday objects, like food trays found in the mall, that are supposedly thought to be relatively clean (1). 2. Organism plus Diseased caused: Acinetobacter species which can cause UTIs, pneumonia, septicemia, cellulitis, and endocarditis (2). 3. Description: Acinetobacter species can be described as non-motile, gram negative coccobacilli (bacilli) (2, 3). On BAP this organism is opaque, grey or creamy white, and may be beta-hemolytic (2). Acinetobacter species is a NLF on MAC but may form translucent purple colonies after 48 hours (2). It can be found in soil, water, and in the hospital environment and is normal flora in humans, where it colonizes the skin, conjunctiva, pharynx, urethra, and vagina (2). 4. How the organism is detected: Acinetobacter species can be identified by the gram stain, colonial morphology and simple biochemical tests. As above, this organism is a gram negative bacillus that can appear to be diplococcic and a NLF but can develop a purple hue on MAC (3). Catalase test will come out positive, while motility and oxidase are negative (2). The OF media may be of some help where saccharolytic species are oxidative but not fermentative and assacharolytic species do not utilize the sugar (2, 3). Acinetobacter species do not reduce nitrate and produce no change on TSI media (2). Also, this organism grows better at a temperature of 30o C (3). 5. Treatment: This organism is resistant to many antimicrobials such as narrow spectrum penicillin and cephalosporins but is usually susceptible to TMP-SMX, quinolones, tetracycline, and imipenem (2). 6. Why is it a public health concern? Acinetobacter species is of public health concern as it accounts for 1-3% of all nosocomial infections (3). As it is part of As it is part of normal human flora, it is an opportunistic pathogen and factors like prior antimicrobial treatment, surgery, and compromised immune system predispose patients to infections from Acinetobacter species (2). It can also cause infections when introduced to the tissue via a foreign body or burns (3). This organism can cause a number of different infections like UTIs, pneumonia, septicemia, meningitis, endocarditis, conjunctivitis, and cellulitis. Endocarditis caused by this organism has a mortality rate of 22% (2, 3). 7. References
1. Dangerous bacteria found on mall food trays. CBC news [Online]. 2011 Feb 14 [cited 2011 Feb 27]; Available from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/02/14/bc-food-trays-bacteria.html Kipke, Leila. Clinical Microbiology II (course pack). Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (CNC); 2006: p.16-17 Module E. Lehman DC, Mahon CR, Manuselis G. Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. 3rd edition. St. Louis: Saunders; 2007: p.573

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