project honey as antimicrobial agent final full.pdf - University of ...

(2008) added increased serum creatinine level and malignancy as risk factors
associated with increased mortality in patients with bacteraemia caused by
Acinetobacter. A European survey of the main cause of nosocomial pneumonia
carried out in seven countries has established an overall incidence of approximately
10% for Acinetobacter (Hawkey & Bergogne-Berezin 2006). Also, during a study
period from 2003 to 2006 for over 270 patients admitted every year in a burn clinic,
an increased trend of Acinetobacter strains was confirmed (Babik et al., 2008).
Recently, over 21,000 American army personnel who were injured during the Iraq
war have suffered severe wound infections, mostly from resistant strains of
Acinetobacter baumanii (Murray et al., 2008). Scientists examined Iraq and Kuwait
soil for the presence of this pathogen but it proved negative. The source of this
outbreak could therefore be from European hospitals (Silberman 2007). However,
this bacterium caused bacteraemia, osteomyelitis and respiratory infections for the
soldiers. Also this pathogen is able to form a biofilm which will reduce its
susceptibility to systemic antibiotics and make treatment more difficult (Dallo and
Weitao 2010). In this situation significant Acinetobacter infections have increased
worldwide and the outbreaks of resistant strains of Acinetobacter have been
described in the medical literature (Bergogne-Berezin et al., 2008).
1.3.4 Pathogenesis of Acinetobacter infection:
Bacteria produce many substances and molecules that allow them to survive and
grow in a host. These molecules are proteins, enzymes, capsules, toxins and surface
carbohydrates (Bergogne-Berezin et al., 2008). Acinetobacter spp. were thought to
be relatively low-grade pathogens, but a number of virulence factors have been
identified. These include:
44