Department of Laboratory Medicine and Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Abstract
Clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. in Korea exhibit higher antimicrobial resistance rates than in foreign countries and frequently show multi-drug resistance. Approximately 67% (272/405) of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates collected from 19 hospitals in Korea in 2008 exhibited intermediate susceptibility or resistance to imipenem and/or meropenem. The most important mechanisms in acquiring carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii in Korea are production of OXA-23 and overproduction of OXA-51, while that in non-baumannii Acinetobacter is the production of metallo-β-lactamases. All the carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates were identified as clonal complex 92 and belonged to worldwide clone 2. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2012;15:1-8)