ISSN : 2714-4917


NIGER DELTA JOURNAL OF MEDICINE & MEDICAL RESEARCH

A Publication Of Nigeria Medical Association Bayelsa State Branch

Home About Us For Authors Issues Useful Downloads Contact Information

FAQ NDJMMR

Questions are asked and these questions need answers. This is the reason why this page is created to enable us share few worries!

×
Archive | ISSUE: , Volume: Jan-Mar-2026

ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERNS OF CLINICAL ISOLATES OF ACINETOBACTER SPP IN A NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIAN PRIVATE MEDICAL CENTRE


Author:Abdullahi N1, Oranekwulu UM

published date:2026-Feb-19

FULL TEXT in - | page 4-10

Abstract

Background: Acinetobacter spp. is an important nosocomial pathogen and a significant public health concern. Known for its resistance to multiple antibiotics, it causes difficult-to-treat, life-threatening infections, particularly among critically ill hospitalised patients, with high associated mortality. Understanding the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of this organism in any healthcare setting is essential for effective management of its infections.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive retrospective study was conducted over an 18-month period (February 8, 2024 to August 8, 2025) at Nisa Premier Hospitals, Abuja. Laboratory records of clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. and their antibiotic susceptibility profiles were extracted and analysed. Isolates were identified using standard microbiological techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the modified Kirby–Bauer disc diffusion method, and results were interpreted according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines.

Results: Twenty-three (23) Acinetobacter spp. isolates were recovered from 4,112 processed clinical samples, representing a yield of 0.6%. Most isolates were obtained from urine (65.1%), followed by wound swabs (13.0%) and blood (9.0%). The isolates showed 100% susceptibility to imipenem, 82.4% to levofloxacin, 78.6% to meropenem, and 70% to gentamycin. Moderate susceptibility was observed to ciprofloxacin (50%). However, very low susceptibility was recorded for ceftazidime (9%), ceftriaxone (14.3%), cefpodoxime (0%), nitrofurantoin (20%), and piperacillin-tazobactam (30%).

Conclusion: Although the prevalence of Acinetobacter spp. was low, urinary tract infection was the most common presentation. Carbapenems, levofloxacin, and gentamycin demonstrated high efficacy and may be suitable for empirical therapy in this setting, while third-generation cephalosporins showed poor activity. Keywords: Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns, Acinetobacter spp, Clinical Isolates

 Cite this article: Abdullahi N, Oranekwulu UM, Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of clinical isolates of acinetobacter spp in a North-Central Nigerian private medical centre. Niger Delta J Med Med Res. 2026;5(1):4–10.

Keywords: Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns, Acinetobacter spp, Clinical Isolates,,

References

1. Wang T, Costa V, Jenkins SG, Hartman BJ, Westblade LF. Acinetobacter radioresistens infection with bacteremia and pneumonia. ID Cases. 2019;15:e00495.

2. Antunes LC, Visca P, Towner KJ. Acinetobacter baumannii: evolution of a global pathogen. Pathog Dis. 2014 Aug;71(3):292–301.

3. Eveillard M, Kempf M, Belmonte O, Pailhoriès H, Joly-Guillou ML. Reservoirs of Acinetobacter baumannii outside the hospital and potential involvement in emerging human community acquired infections. Int J Infect Dis. 2013;17:e802 e805.

4. Lin MF, Lan CY. Antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii: from bench to bedside. World J Clin Cases. 2014;2(12):787–814.

5. Roy S, Chowdhury G, Mukhopadhyay AK, Dutta S, Basu S. Convergence of biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii infection. Front Med. 2022;9:793615.

6. Eze EC, Chenia H, El Zowalaty M. Acinetobacter baumannii biofilms: effects of physicochemical factors, virulence, antibiotic resistance determinants, gene regulation, and future antimicrobial treatments. Infect Drug Resist. 2018;11:2277–2299.

7. Peleg AY, Seifert H, Paterson DL. Acinetobacter baumannii: emergence of a successful pathogen. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2008;21(3):538–582.

8. Ang H, Sun X. Risk factors for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria infection in intensive care units: a meta-analysis. Int J Nurs Pract. 2018 Aug;24(4):e12644.

9. Weiner LM, Webb AK, Limbago B, Dudeck MA, Patel J, Kallen AJ, et al. Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens associated with healthcare-associated infections: summary of data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011–2014. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016;37(11):1288–1301.

10. Zhou H, Yao Y, Zhu B, Ren D, Yang Q, Fu Y, et al. Risk factors for acquisition and mortality of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia: a retrospective study from a Chinese hospital. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(13):e14937.

11. Richards AM, Abu Kwaik Y, Lamont RJ. Code blue: Acinetobacter baumannii, a nosocomial pathogen with a role in the oral cavity. Mol Oral Microbiol. 2015;30(1):2–15.

12. Dent LL, Marshall DR, Pratap S, Hulette RB. Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii: a descriptive study in a city hospital. BMC Infect Dis. 2010;10:196.

13. Almasaudi SB. Acinetobacter spp. as nosocomial pathogens: epidemiology and resistance features. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2018;25:586–596.

14. Morris FC, Dexter C, Kostoulias X, Uddin MI, Peleg AY. The mechanisms of disease caused by Acinetobacter baumannii. Front Microbiol. 2019;10:1601.

15. Peacock SJ, Parkhill J, Brown NM. Changing the paradigm for hospital outbreak detection by leading with genomic surveillance of nosocomial pathogens. Microbiology. 2018;164:1213–1219.

16. Ayoub MC, Hammoudi HD. Insights into Acinetobacter baumannii: a review of microbiological, virulence, and resistance traits in a threatening nosocomial pathogen. Antibiotics. 2020;9:119.

17. Lal B, Vijayakumar S, Anandan S, Veeraraghavan B. Specimen collection, processing, culture, and biochemical identification of Acinetobacter spp. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1946:1–15.

18. Ma YX, Wang CY, Li YY, Li J, Wan QQ, Chen JH, et al. Considerations and caveats in combating ESKAPE pathogens against nosocomial infections. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2019;7:1901872.

19. Tacconelli E, Carrara E, Savoldi A, Harbarth S, Mendelson M, Monnet DL, et al. Discovery, research, and development of new antibiotics: the WHO priority list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and tuberculosis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2018;18:318–327. 20. Murray CJ, Ikuta KS, Sharara F, Swetschinski L, Aguilar GR, Gray A, et al. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2022;399(10325):629 655.

21. Russo A, Giuliano S, Ceccarelli G, Alessandri F, Giordano A, Brunetti G, et al. Comparison of septic shock due to multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii or Klebsiella carbapenemase-producing pneumoniae K. pneumoniae in intensive care unit patients. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2018;62(6):e01280-17.

22. Shorr AF, Zilberberg MD, Micek ST, Kollef MH. Predictors of hospital mortality among septic ICU patients with Acinetobacter spp. bacteremia: a cohort study. BMC Infect Dis. 2014;14:572.

23. Tokur ME, Korkmaz P, Alkan S, Y?ld?z E, Ar?k Ö, Renders DP, et al. Mortality predictors on the day of healthcare-associated Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia in intensive care unit. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2022;16(9):1473–1481.

24. Appaneal HJ, Lopes VV, LaPlante KL, Caffrey AR. Treatment, clinical outcomes, and predictors of mortality among a national cohort of admitted patients with Acinetobacter baumannii infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2022;66(3):e0197521.

25. World Health Organization. WHO publishes list of bacteria for which new antibiotics are urgently needed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.

26. Hong YK, Kim H, Ko KS. Two types of colistin heteroresistance in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020;9(1):2114 2123.

27. Lee CR, Lee JH, Park M, Park KS, Bae IK, Kim YB, et al. Biology of Acinetobacter baumannii: pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and prospective treatment options. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017;7:55.

28. Nordmann P. Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: overview of a major public health challenge. Med Mal Infect. 2014;44(2):51–56.

29. Collee JG, Fraser AG, Marmion BP, Simmons A. Mackie and McCartney practical medical microbiology. 14th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1996. p.263–274.

30. Fingold SM, Baron EJ. Diagnostic microbiology. 10th ed. Toronto, St Louis: Mosby; p.150–170.

31. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. 29th ed. CLSI supplement M100. Wayne (PA): CLSI; 2019.

32. Tewari R, Chopra D, Wazahat R, Dhingra S, Dudeja M. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of an emerging multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen: Acinetobacter baumannii. Malays J Med Sci. 2018;25(3):129–134.

33. Qursheed S, Saraswati R, Pavani K. Isolation and prevalence of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter from various clinical samples in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Health Sci Res. 2025;15(12):83–92.

34. Saha S, Devi KM, Damrolien S, Devi KS. A study of Acinetobacter infections in a tertiary care hospital in Northeast India. Int J Res Med Sci. 2018;6:2076 2080.

35. Murugesh K, Naik TB, Ravindranath C. Antibiotic susceptibility profile of Acinetobacter isolates from various clinical specimens at a tertiary care hospital in South Karnataka. Indian J Microbiol Res. 2019;6(4):280–283. 36. Toyeeb OM, Akanbi II AA. Prevalence of Acinetobacter spp. isolated from clinical specimens in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. Sokoto J Med Lab Sci. 2020;5(4).

37. Nwadike VU, Ojide CK, Kalu EI. Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter infection and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in a Nigerian tertiary hospital ICU. Afr J Infect Dis. 2014;8(1):14 18.

38. Mahamad W, Prasanna G, Saranya M, Shazia N. A study on Acinetobacter spp. isolated from various clinical samples and analysis of their susceptibility pattern at a tertiary care centre. Trop J Pathol Microbiol. 2021;7(6):313–319.

39. Norris SC, Pandya HB, Pipaliya BP, Javadekar TB. Antimicrobial resistance patterns in Acinetobacter baumannii: a study from a tertiary care center in Vadodara, Gujarat. Indian J Microbiol Res. 2024;11(3):211–214.

40. Deepika V, Neeraj R, Divya J. Study of antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Acinetobacter species isolated from clinical samples in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Curr Pharm Rev Res. 2025;17(5):621 626.

41. Gupta N, Gandham N, Jadhav S, Mishra RN. Isolation and identification of Acinetobacter species with special reference to antibiotic resistance. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2015;6(1):159–162.

42. Rit K, Saha R. Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter infection and their susceptibility patterns in a tertiary care hospital. Niger Med J. 2012;53(3):126–128.

43. Samah G, Hatem ME, Nikhat M. Antimicrobial resistance pattern of Acinetobacter spp. isolated from clinical samples in a tertiary care hospital at Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Afr J Microbiol Res. 2018;12(30):723–729

FULL TEXT in - | page 4-10

Issue Archive

Volume 2026

Issue 1-Jan-Mar

Volume 2025

Issue 3-Jul-Sep
Issue 2-Apr-Jun
Issue 1-Jan-Mar

Volume 2024

Issue 3-Jul-Sep
Issue 2-Apr-Jun
Issue 1-Jan-Mar

Volume 2023

Issue 1-Jan-Mar

Volume 2020

Issue 1-Jan-Mar

Volume 2013

Issue 4-Oct-Dec

Copyright © Niger Delta Journal Of Medicine & Medical Research | A Publication Of Nigeria Medical Association Bayelsa State Branch.
All Rights Reserved. P.M.B. 126, Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. Bayelsa state Nigeria