Acinetobacter baumannii Infection in Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia Patients with Sepsis.

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  µ g/L versus 6413.5 ± 2103.9  µ g/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  µ g/L versus 6413.5 ± 2103.9  µ g/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.