Research Article

Antibiotic susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii and its therapeutic evaluation using nanoparticles isolated from burn wounds

Abstract

Objectives: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic nosocomial infection and burn centers and one of the six major multidrug resistant bacteria in hospitals worldwide. Blood stream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia are the most frequent diseases brought on by this human virus, and mortality can reach 35%. Materials and Methods: In this study, a total of 20 burn wound samples were collected from patients receiving treatment for burn-associated Acinetobacter infections at a Burn Center in Al-Najaf, Iraq. From these samples, 7 Acinetobacter spp. isolates were recovered over the study period. Results: The results showed that the Acinetobacter isolates obtained from burn wound samples were classified into different species. Among the 7 Acinetobacter isolates, Acinetobacter baumannii was the predominant species, followed by Acinetobacter lwoffii and other Acinetobacter spp. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that the Acinetobacter isolates exhibited high levels of resistance to several commonly used antibiotics. Resistance rates were observed against ciprofloxacin (CIP), ceftazidime (CAZ), meropenem (MEM), cefotaxime (CTX), imipenem (IPM), levofloxacin (LEV), tobramycin (TOB), and trimethoprim– sulfamethoxazole (SXT), indicating multidrug-resistant profiles among the isolates. However, a qualitative leap occurred when zinc oxide molecules were used as an alternative to antibiotics, yielding satisfactory results.