Association of plasmid typing to biotyping and antibiotyping in the characterization of outbreaks by Acinetobacter baumannii

Abstract

During an outbreak at an University Hospital, from April to September, in 1994, sixteen strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were isolated from patients and one strain from an enteral solution. We afterwards analyzed the outbreak by means of plasmid typing, antibiotic resistance typing and biotyping. Two main plasmid profiles were identified. Twelve strains belonged to biotype 2, and five to biotype 19. Susceptibility to amikacin and to carbenicillin allowed classification of the strains into two groups. The results show that association of those three typing methods allowed the differentiation of what was at first considered as a single outbreak into two apparently unrelated outbreaks.