Using Genome Sequencing to Control an Outbreak of Deadly Bacteria

Health-associated infections (HAIs) cost the UK a fortune, and it has been estimated that one in fifteen patients have an HAI at any given time. The pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii presents a significant threat to casualties in hospitals globally if uncontrolled. A. baumannii is a gram-negative, multi-drug resistant bacterium. The pathogen tends to target severely ill patients, specifically trauma and burn victims. A. baumannii exposure often leads to pneumonia and bloodstream infections and can result in death.

During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, an outbreak of A. baumannii began in 2011 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham after the admittance of a military patient with blast injuries. The outbreak lasted 80 weeks, one of the longest outbreaks caused by A. baumannii. The researchers who were trying to control the outbreak used traditional methods at first to contain the pathogen; however, these methods only provide limited information about a pathogen's DNA. Also, the initial infected patient carried a new strain of the bacterium which had not been observed in the region's hospitals.

After realizing that traditional methods of containing outbreaks were not working, the researchers switched to using whole genome sequencing to try to control the situation. The researchers identified 74 patients belonging to the outbreak by sampling the patients and the environment. This information helped the researchers determine the genetic makeup of the strain of A. baumannii which infected all of the patients in the outbreak. Using the genetic makeup of the bacterium, the location the patients were housed in, and the dates of the patients' positive tests, 70 possible transmission events were identified. All of this information allowed the researchers to identify the operation room and specialized burn victim beds as transmission "hot spots" in the hospital. These hotspots were deeply cleaned upon identification and new decontamination protocols were developed. In May 2013, the outbreak ended.

Whole genome sequencing has demonstrated usefulness in many aspects of medicine including tailoring treatments for certain genetic makeups and bringing awareness to those who are predisposed to certain diseases and disorders. After the outbreak of A. baumannii, whole genome sequencing showed its true versatility in helping to quickly control the spread of a drug-resistant hospital pathogen in a cost-effective way. Overall, I am amazed at the benefits, predicted and unpredicted, the world will receive from genome sequencing. The information the world can gain from genome sequencing is unlimited. I cannot wait to see where genome sequencing takes the scientific community and the world in years to come.

Article: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-real-time-genome-sequencing-hospital-outbreak.html
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