Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB). A. baumanii is a Gram-negative, MDR-AB, oxidase negative, aerobic, coccobacillus bacterium. This strain is multi-drug resistant and causes various nosocomial infections, including, skin and wound infections, pneumonia, meningitis, septicaemia, urinary tract infection and endocarditis. It is commonly found in soil, water, sewage, animals, and the normal skin and gastrointestinal tract of patients and health care workers. A. baumannii has always been naturally resistant to multiple antibiotics. It can be especially resistant to penicillin and chloramphenicol. It is the most frequently encountered species in the clinical laboratory and can be linked to many hospital acquired infections. Magnification: x2, 200 when shortest axis printed at 25 millimetres. |