Seasonal and Temperature-Associated Increase in Community-Onset Acinetobacter baumannii Complex Colonization or Infection

• Published in: Annals of laboratory medicine Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 266 - 270
• Main Authors: Kim, Young Ah, Kim, Jin Ju, Won, Dong Ju, Lee, Kyungwon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine 01.05.2018; 대한진단검사의학회
• Subjects: Brief Communication; 병리학; Community-onset; Acinetobacter baumannii complex; Seasonality
• ISSN: 2234-3806; 2234-3814; 2234-3814
• DOI: 10.3343/alm.2018.38.3.266

Identifying the trends in community-onset Acinetobacter baumannii complex isolation and diversity according to temperature could help provide insight into the behavior of the A. baumannii complex. We performed a retrospective analysis of A. baumannii complex (Acinetobacter baumannii, Acinetobacter nosocomialis, Acinetobacter pittii, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus) isolates obtained from patients at a Korean community hospital from 2006 to 2015 with reference to seasonal temperatures. The incidence rates were compared between warm (June-September) and cold (November-March) months, defined as an average mean temperature ≥20°C and ≤5°C, respectively. Incidence rate was calculated as the number of cases per month, converted to cases/10⁵ admissions for healthcare-acquired isolates and cases/10³ outpatients for community-onset isolates. Approximately 3,500 A. baumannii complex cases were identified, and 26.2% of them were community-onset cases. The median (interquartile range) number of community-onset A. baumannii complex cases was significantly higher (P=0.0002) in warm months at 13.8 (9.5-17.6) than in cold months at 10.1 (6.3-13.2). There was a strong correlation between community-onset A. baumannii complex cases and temperature (Pearson's r=0.6805, P=0.0149). Thus, we identified a seasonality pattern for community-onset A. baumannii complex colonization or infection, but not for healthcare-acquired cases.