After an outbreak of multi-drug-resistant bacteria in a Seattle hospital in the United States, another hospital in Germany has been hit when a multi-drug-resistant pathogen at a university clinic emerged infecting 27 patients. Eleven of them died due to the infection.
The bacteria they discovered were Acinetobacter baumannii and after investigation, caused the death of nine of the eleven deaths, Kiel clinic hospital officials told DW Akademie. However, the two other cases concerning older adults, Oliver Grieve, spokesperson of Schleswig-Holstein University Clinic (UKSH) said they cannot rule out that the bacteria is the sole cause of death of the patients.
Those who were infected with the bacteria had underlying diseases and most of them have compromised immune systems making them more prone to contracting the infection. Yet, for patients with good health and no problems with immunity, the bacteria did not pose any health threat.
One predicament the doctors are facing in treating the 27 patients is that the pathogen has almost impenetrable and invincible resistance to antibiotics. Thus, they invited a team of experts and specialists from the Frankfurt University Clinic to help in battling the infections.
According to a study by Aoife Howard, Michael O'Donoghue, Audrey Feeney and Roy Sleator, Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging opportunistic pathogen that is associated with nosocomial infections or those infections acquired in hospitals. Usually, it is contracted by patients with suppressed immune integrity especially after a long stay in the hospital.
Its pathogenic potential includes the capacity to adhere to surfaces, form biofilms, display antimicrobial resistance and acquire genetic material from unrelated genera, making it a versatile and difficult pathogen to control and eliminate especially with standard infection treatments such as use of antibiotics.
Harald Seifert, professor at Cologne University's Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene said, "We are dealing with an extremely resistant strain of bacteria. Over the years, the spectrum of its resistance has grown to the extent that, to my knowledge, only one antibiotic can be used: colistin."
According to the Kiel clinic, all the needed steps and protocols to control the outbreak were undertaken and all patients were placed in isolation in the intensive care unit. They also smashed all rumors that mistakes were committed by the hospital in hygiene practices in the clinic.
The key to containing the outbreak and preventing nosocomial infections to happen is hygiene. If the hospital practices all the needed protocols especially during invasive procedures and in the use of mechanical ventilations, the rate of nosocomial infections can be prevented.