Molecular characterisation of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from bloodstream infections in a tertiary-level hospital in South Africa

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen and causes various infections in patients. This study aimed to describe the clinical, epidemiological and molecular characteristics of A. baumannii isolated from BCs in patients at a tertiary-level hospital in South Africa. Ninety-six isolates from bloodstream infections were collected. Clinical characteristics of patients were recorded from patient files. Organism identification and AST was performed using automated systems. PCR screening for the mcr-1 to mcr -5 genes was done. To infer genetic relatedness, a dendrogram was constructed using MALDI-TOF MS. All colistin-resistant isolates ( n = 9) were selected for WGS. The patients were divided into three groups, infants (