Longitudinal Analysis of the Temporal Evolution of Acinetobacter baumannii Strains in Ohio, USA, by Using Rapid Automated Typing Methods

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Brooke K. Decker, Case Western Reserve University; Federico Perez, Case Western Reserve University; Andrea M. Hujer, Case Western Reserve University; Kristine M. Hujer, Case Western Reserve University; Geraldine S. Hall, Cleveland Clinic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute; Michael R. Jacobs, Case Western Reserve University; Wondwossen A. Gebreyes, Ohio State University; Scott T. Zoll, Abbott Molecular, Inc.; Christian Massire, Abbott Molecular, Inc.; Mark W. Eshoo, Abbott Molecular, Inc.; David J. Ecker, Abbott Molecular, Inc.; Philip Rather, Emory University; Robert A. Bonomo, Case Western Reserve University
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-04-12
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
• License: Creative Commons Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033443
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLoS ONE
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: e33443
• End Page: e33443
• Grant/Funding Information: PNR is supported by a Research Career Scientist Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs.; Funding for this study was provided by the Steris Corporation to FP.; RAB is supported by the Veterans Affairs Merit Review Program, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (grants RO1-AI072219-05) and the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Care Center VISN 10.
• Keywords: INFECTION; EMERGENCE; GENETIC DIVERSITY; REPRODUCIBILITY; MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY; MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Science & Technology - Other Topics; OUTBREAK; DISSEMINATION; Science & Technology; ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE; MILITARY; PCR

Abstract

Genotyping methods are essential to understand the transmission dynamics of Acinetobacter baumannii. We examined the representative genotypes of A. baumannii at different time periods in select locations in Ohio, using two rapid automated typing methods: PCR coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS), a form of multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), and repetitive-sequence-based-PCR (rep-PCR). Our analysis included 122 isolates from 4 referral hospital systems, in 2 urban areas of Ohio. These isolates were associated with outbreaks at 3 different time periods (1996, 2000 and 2005-2007). Type assignments of PCR/ESI-MS and rep-PCR were compared to each other and to worldwide (WW) clone types. The discriminatory power of each method was determined using the Simpson's index of diversity (DI). We observed that PCR/ESI-MS sequence type (ST) 14, corresponding to WW clone 3, predominated in 1996, whereas ST 12 and 14 co-existed in the intermediate period (2000) and ST 10 and 12, belonging to WW clone 2, predominated more recently in 2007. The shift from WW clone 3 to WW clone 2 was accompanied by an increase in carbapenem resistance. The DI was approximately 0.74 for PCR/ESI-MS, 0.88 for rep-PCR and 0.90 for the combination of both typing methods. We conclude that combining rapid automated typing methods such as PCR/ESI-MS and rep-PCR serves to optimally characterize the regional molecular epidemiology of A. baumannii. Our data also sheds light on the changing sequence types in an 11 year period in Northeast Ohio.