The Distribution Pattern of Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Two Tertiary Health Institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria

The ubiquitous nature of Acinetobacter baumannii has made the Gram-negative, non-motile bacterium to be associated with hospital-acquired infection at the global level, and with respect to antimicrobial resistance, it has been categorized among the most dangerous multiple drug-resistant (MDR) pathogens globally and enlisted in the "priority 1: critical" pathogens list of the World Health Organization, existing in-hospital patients and environment. Many clinical manifestations such as pneumonia, and wound infection have posed a huge disease burden with massive economic loss. The infection is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. The burden of this hospital pathogen demands attention, especially with the surge in the resistant strains distribution. In the area of this study, distribution patterns have not extensively been studied therefore, the research focused on the distribution pattern of hospital isolated Acinetobacter baumannii from selected tertiary health facilities in Rivers State Nigeria. The observational study involved isolation and biochemical identification, as well as molecular assay, which was performed using standardized methods, was conducted in two main tertiary hospitals located in Port Harcourt metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria. Statistics were performed for percentage and frequency distribution. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the difference in distribution at a 0.05 level of significance. Statistical Package for Social Science version 21 was used for the statistics.368 samples from two institutions; RSUTH 185 (50.3%) and UPTH 183 (49.7%). Females 187 (50.8%) were more compared to the males 181(49.2%) with a significant difference (p<0.05) in isolate distribution but no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) for location and sample. Also, sample distribution was uneven 59 (16.0%), 202 (54.9%), and 107 (29.1%) for aspirate, urine, and wound respectively. 2.4% was recorded in the preliminary investigation while a 75% positive rate was observed using the molecular method. Evidence of the presence of Acinetobacter baumannii in the hospital was established. Also, Acinetobacter baumanii was not isolated from the aspirate sample however, this is subject to further investigation with an increased sample size. Female subjects had a higher rate. The information obtained here is essential to guide therapeutics and the management of targeted clinical manifestation. Therefore, the study serves as surveillance of A. baumannii found in the selected region.