Emergence of Carbapenem Resistance inAcinetobacter baumanniiRecovered From Blood Cultures in Australia

Abstract
We describe the first emergence of carbapenem-resistantAcinetobacter baumanniiin Australia. NinetyA. baumanniiisolates recovered from cultures of blood specimens from 69 patients were analyzed. Overall, 58 isolates (64%) were resistant to meropenem. The χ2test for linear trend revealed that emergence of carbapenem resistance was statistically significant during the 32-month study period. Selected isolates were of the same clonal type, and no genes encoding carbapenemases were identified.