Abstract
Acinetobacter is an increasingly-problematic organism, especially in intensive care units (ICUs). In this study, we compared its incidence, outcomes, and predictors spanning eight ICUs in five geographically and climatologically-diverse cities in Saudi Arabia.
Geographic, climatologic, hospital-related, and patient-related factors were collected prospectively on 3179 patients admitted to eight Saudi ICUs from June 2018 through June 2019. These data then underwent both bivariable and multivariable analysis, the latter vis hierarchical logistic regression to identify predictors of clinically-manifest Acinetobacter infection.
Overall incidence of Acinetobacter infection was 3.9% (n = 124). Of these 124 infections, 122 (98.4%) were cultured as A. baumannii. Incidence ranged from 1.0 to 7.9% across the eight ICUs. On bivariable analysis, incident Acinetobacter infection was more common in university and military hospitals, in hospitals with more total beds and ICU isolation rooms, and in 2018 versus 2019, incidence steadily declining over the 13 study months. Mechanically-ventilated patients had ten-fold increased odds of infection. Adjusted (multivariable) analysis revealed the risk of clinically-manifest Acinetobacter infection to increase the longer patients were on mechanical ventilation. Increased risk also existed at certain hospitals over others, especially in university-affiliated and military hospitals, larger hospitals with more isolation rooms, and hospitals with fewer ICU beds.
In our study of eight ICUs across Saudi Arabia, inter-hospital differences did appear to account for inter-hospital differences in Acinetobacter incidence rates. Patients requiring mechanical ventilation for longer periods of time were particularly at risk.
•Increasing resistance of Acinetobacter infections in critically ill patients to several classes ofantimicrobial agents is a real concern and has been found to be a great problem in many tertiaryreferral hospitals in Saudi Arabia.•The high rates of resistant in Saudi Arabia call for comprehensive program for developing a local antibiogram database coupled with nationwideantimicrobial stewardship.•Infection prevention, and discovering new therapies for multidrugresistant MDR Acinetobacter, might contribute to the global effort of combating this pathogen and decreasing the burden of MDR infection.