Acinetobacter nares colonization of healthy US soldiers. Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America

摘要

TO the editor-Since the onset of hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, bacteria of the genus Acinetobacter have become an important cause of infection among trauma patients in military medical treatment facilities.1 These infections are potentially difficult to treat because of the organism's possible broad-spectrum antimicrobial resistance. Little is currently known about the epidemiology of these trauma-associated infections. There are several theories regarding how patients may acquire this organism, one of which is that these patients may have harbored the bacteria on their skin prior to injury. Previous studies have demonstrated that Acinetobacter species can be found colonizing the skin and nares of healthy people. At our institution, a large study is underway examining community acquired methidllin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization of the nares among healthy soldiers. We took this opportunity to evaluate whether nares colonization by Acinetobacter species exists in this population. Study participants were recruited from soldiers undergoing military training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. This population was geographically diverse (samples were obtained from study participants approximately 3 days after their arrival at Fort Sam Houston from various training bases throughout the US), healthy, and not involved with health care. After informed consent was obtained (Brooke Army Medical Center institutional review board protocol C.2004.163), a BBL Cul-tureSwab with Stuart Medium (Becton Dickinson) was used to swab the anterior nares of each participant. Swabs were then plated onto MacConkey agar (Remel). After incubation at 37degC in ambient air for 24 hours, the plates were examined for growth. Nonfermentative colonies were further identified using the Vitek automated system (BioMerieux Vitek).