Incidence of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

•Raise of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-Ab) infections.•Pneumonia due to CR-Ab is predominantly in the adult intensive care unit.•Rates of CR-Ab exceeded the established control limit, confirming an outbreak. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-Ab) has become a worrying health care problem, mainly in developing countries, such as Brazil. The objective was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic factors for CR-Ab infections at a Brazilian university hospital and examine the impact of inappropriate antimicrobial therapy on patient outcome. A retrospective study on hospitalized patients with CR-Ab infections was carried out from January 2013 to December 2017. An epidemiologic analysis was carried out to determine the frequency of infections, the epidemiologic indicators by year, the risk factors for 30-day mortality, and the impact of inappropriate therapy. A total of 489 patients were included in the study. A rate of 0.7 per 1,000 patient-day CR-Ab infections was observed, mostly in the lungs (54.7%), and predominantly in the adult intensive care unit. The occurrence of infections by CR-Ab per 1,000 patient-days in November 2014 exceeded the established control limit, confirming an outbreak. The prevalence of CR-Ab increased in the investigated hospital, passing to an endemic pathogen with a direct impact on mortality and the control of these strains.