Acinetobacter baumannii

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Context

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Xacduro as a new treatment for hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia caused by Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex (A. baumannii).

Details

About

• Acinetobacter baumannii is a typically short, almost round, rod-shaped (coccobacillus) Gram-negative bacterium- which means it has a protective outer membrane that allows it to resist antibiotics.
• It is named after the bacteriologist Paul Baumann.

Colloquial name

• Colloquially, baumannii is referred to as "Iraqibacter" due to its seemingly sudden emergence in military treatment facilities during the Iraq War.

“Red alert” pathogen”

• baumannii was acknowledged even a decade ago to be a “red alert” pathogen “primarily because of its exceptional ability to develop resistance to all currently available antibiotics”. This remains the case today.

Locomotion

• Bacteria of this genus lack flagella, whip-like structures many bacteria use for locomotion, but exhibit twitching or swarming motility. This may be due to the activity of type IV pili, pole-like structures that can be extended and retracted. 

Impact

• It can be an opportunistic pathogen in humans, affecting people with compromised immune systems, and is becoming increasingly important as a hospital-derived (nosocomial) infection.
• It has been associated with hospital-acquired infections in India.

Habitat

• Although occasionally it has been found in environmental soil and water samples, its natural habitat is still not known.

Trivia

READ: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/gram-negative-bacteria#:~:text=The%20Gram%20stain%20procedure%20distinguishes,these%20cells%20are%20stained%20with.

https://consumer.healthday.com/fda-approves-xacduro-for-difficult-to-treat-bacterial-pneumonia-2660718480.html