RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF IRANIAN ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII STRAINS BY SINGLE PCR ASSAY USING BLAOXA-51-LIKE CARBAPENEMASE AND EVALUATION OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PROFILES OF THE ISOLATES

The rapid identification of relevant bacterial pathogens is of utmost importance in clinical settings. The aim of this study was to test a rapid identification technique for A. baumannii strains from Tehran Hospitals and to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates. A hundred strains of Acinetobacter spp. grown from clinical specimens were identified as A. baumannii by conventional methods. Using PCR a bla(OXA-51)-like gene was detected in all A. baumannii isolates but not in other species of acinetobacter. More than half of the isolates proved resistant to a variety of antibiotics by the disk diffusion technique. The rate of resistance to gentamicin, imipenem, ampicillin-sulbactam and amikacin was determined to be 45%, 53%, 62% and 62%, respectively. Moreover, most isolates (more than 90%) showed resistance to cephalosporins. This study shows that the demonstration of the bla(OXA-51-like) gene is a reliable and rapid way for the presumptive identification of A. baumannii and reveals that the rate of antibiotic resistance is high in Iranian A. baumannii isolates to a variety of antibiotics.