The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has
noted that during January 1, 2002–August 31, 2004, 102
patients were infected with acinetobacter baumannii at
military medical facilities treating service members
injured in Afghanistan and the Iraq/Kuwait region.
Forty-five cases were at Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
District of Columbia, and 33 were at Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center, Germany. The remaining 24 were at U.S.
Navy hospital ship Comfort, National Naval Medical Center,
Bethesda, Maryland, and Brooke Army Medical Center, San
Antonio, Texas. Whether the infections were acquired from
environmental sources in the field or during treatment at
other military medical facilities such as field hospitals
is unknown, said the CDC. A. baumannii are commonly found
in water and soil. Treatment can be difficult because the
organisms resist certain antimicrobial agents and have
acquired resistance to many others, noted the CDC. For
additional information, visit www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip.
