Acinetobacter baumannii Infection in Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia Patients with Sepsis

Abstract

Purpose To identify the Acinetobacter baumannii infection among transfusion dependent thalassemia patients. Methods A quantitative approach was employed to assess Acinetobacter baumannii infection in transfusion dependent thalassemia patients. Samples were collected from 916 patients, which have shown bacterial growth on MacConkey and blood agar culture media. A. baumannii strains were identified by microbiological methods and Gram's staining. API 20 E kit (Biomerieux, USA) was used for final identification. Results From 916 cultured blood specimens, 107 (11.6%) showed growth of A. baumannii. Serum ferritin in thalassemic patients without bacterial infections was 3849.5 ± 1513.5 µg/L versus 6413.5 ± 2103.9 µg/L in those with bacterial infections (p = 0.0001). Acinetobacter baumannii infected patients have shown higher serum ferritin levels (p = 0.0001). Serum ferritin in thalassemic patients was 3849.5 ± 1513.5 µg/L versus 6413.5 ± 2103.9 µg/L in those with bacterial infections (p = 0.0001). Acinetobacter baumannii infected patients showed high serum ferritin levels (p = 0.0001). The clinical symptoms have been found with A. baumannii +ve with a mean and standard deviation of 47 (5.1%) and A. baumannii −ve with mean and standard deviation of 60 (6.5%). Conclusion Isolation of asymptomatic A. baumannii from the thalassemia patients shows an alarming situation of bacterial infections. A continuous surveillance of transfusion dependent thalassemia patients is recommended for bacterial sepsis.

Molecular characterization of Klebsiella pneumoniae associated with Thalassemia in Thi-Qar Governorate

“…pneumoniae and L. monocytogenes [17,18]. Similar local and regional studies were in agreement with the present study results that refer to the predomenance of Gram negative species in Thalssemia patients, especially K. pneumoniae [19,8].…”

“…Microorganisms such Yersinia enterocolitica, Klebsiella spp., Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes have been reported in the state of iron overload. A previous study revealed that splenectomy predisposed thalassemia and sickle cell disease patients to severe infections mostly by Gram-negative microorganisms [8]. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is considered the most well developed molecular technique for the detection of various diseases [9].…”

Antimicrobial peptide 2K4L inhibits the inflammatory response in macrophages and Caenorhabditis elegans and protects against LPS-induced septic shock in mice

“…Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most multidrug-resistant pathogens of the ESKAPE group ( Enterococcus faecium , Staphylococcus aureus , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp. ), which causes hospital-acquired infections leading to excessive inflammatory reactions, sepsis, septic shock and even death 5 . Recently, A. baumannii has become increasingly important because it has extensive drug resistance to all clinical antibiotics, and the A. baumannii infection mortality rate can reach 35%.…”

Antimicrobial peptide 2K4L disrupts the membrane of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and protects mice against sepsis

“…A. baumannii infections trigger excessive inflammatory reactions, leading to endotoxic shock, sepsis, and even death ( Routsi et al, 2010 ; Muzaheed et al, 2017 ). Sepsis, is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by infections of pathogenic microorganisms, especially gram-negative bacteria ( Carcillo and Fields, 2002 ; Uhle et al, 2015 ; Sehgal et al, 2020 ).…”