Prevalence and resistance patterns of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in clinical samples from Diyala, Iraq

Purpose: To address the surveillance gap in Iraq by tracking the prevalence, trends, and patterns of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) resistance at Diyala Province, Iraq. Methods: A total of 300 clinical samples comprising burns, wounds, sputum and urine were collected from patients visiting the outpatient unit of Baqubah Teaching Hospital, Diyala Province, Iraq, from May to December 2024. Cultures were performed on blood agar, MacConkey agar, and Chrome agar, followed by diagnostic confirmation using biochemical tests and the VITEK® Compact system. Results: Of the 300 specimens collected from both males and females across a range of clinical samples, only 50 (16.7 %) contained A. baumanii isolates. Of these, 22 (7.3 %) A. baumannii bacterial isolates occurred in wound samples, 16 (5.3 %) A. baumannii isolates occurred in burn swab samples, 7 (2.4 %) and 5 (1.7 %) isolates were from urine and sputum samples, respectively. A total of 216 samples (72 %) yielded other bacterial species, while 34 samples (11.3 %) showed no bacterial growth. Fifty bacterial isolates of A. baumannii were obtained after local isolates that belonged to multidrug resistance (MDR) or extensively drug resistance (XDR) group were identified. All 50 samples (100 %) were MDR, whereas 16 isolates (84.2 %) were XDR. Conclusion: Specimens from burns and wounds contain A. baumannii, with 100 % of isolates being multidrug resistant and 84.2 % extremely drug-resistant. This highlights the limited effectiveness of antibiotics and necessitates targeted actions to prevent the spread of the microorganism.