Detecting Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii (CRAB) Carriage: Which Body Site Should Be Cultured?
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology (2020), 41, 965–967 doi:10.1017/ice.2020.197 Concise Communication Detecting carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) carriage: Which body site should be cultured? Amir Nutman MD, MPH1,2 , Elizabeth Temkin DrPH1, Jonathan Lellouche PhD1, Debby Ben David MD1,2, David Schwartz PhD1 and Yehuda Carmeli MD, MPH1,2 1National Institute for Antibiotic Resistance and Infection Control, Ministry of Health, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel and 2Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel Abstract We compared the yield of culturing various body sites to detect carriage of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB). Culturing the skin using a premoistened sponge, with overnight enrichment and plating on CHROMagar MDR Acinetobacter, had the highest yield: 92%. Skin is satisfactory as a single site for active surveillance of CRAB. (Received 8 January 2020; accepted 28 April 2020; electronically published 19 June 2020) Acinetobacter baumannii is a multidrug-resistant pathogen caus- The primary outcome was screening yield for each body site ing severe infections in hospitals and long-term care facilities. sampled. Because there is no gold standard for CRAB screening, Detecting carriers is a mainstay of controlling nosocomial spread a patient was defined as a CRAB carrier if a culture from any of of resistant organisms. Screening for carbapenem-resistant the sites sampled was positive. Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) has been recommended to control outbreaks, but no specific recommendations have been Specimen collection methods made regarding which body sites to culture.1 In 2007, we studied the yield of culturing the nose, throat, axilla, groin, rectum, open Buccal mucosa and rectal specimens were collected using swabs wounds, and tracheal aspirates, and no site or combination of (Amies agar gel transport swab; Copan Italia S.P.A., Brescia, sites had high enough sensitivity to be recommended for CRAB Italy).
[Show full text]