The public has little reason to fear three deaths related to an uncommon bacterial infection at the University of Maryland Medical Center, hospital officials said.
Three of four patients isolated with a rare bacteria called acinetobacter baumannii died within weeks of being diagnosed, but these patients had been in intensive care for weeks and it is impossible to tell if they died from the bacteria or other causes, hospital officials said.
The bacteria is highly resistant to antimicrobial drugs, but unlike other so-called super-bugs, acinetobacter infections rarely harm those without serious injuries or illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Like drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria is common in dirt and can be carried on the skin or even colonize otherwise healthy individuals.
One patient was diagnosed in December with an acinetobacter infection, University of Maryland Baltimore spokeswoman Ellen Beth-Levitt said. Surveillance testing returned four positive results Jan. 4, she said. Those individuals were isolated from other intensive care patients and doctors and nurses treating them are taking precautions including wearing disposable gowns and gloves.
Outside of rare cases among the seriously ill and hospitalized, the CDC reported 102 cases of servicemen injured in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004.
