Acinetobacter Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Mar 02, 2021
  • Author: Shirin A Mazumder, MD, FIDSA; Chief Editor: Michael Stuart Bronze, MD  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

The main differential diagnostic problem presented by Acinetobacter is to differentiate colonization from infection, including other aerobic gram-negative bacilli that colonize or infect these fluids, ie, Enterobacter species, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Burkholderia cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Flavobacterium meningosepticum, and Serratia marcescens.

Because Acinetobacter is predominantly a colonizing organism, the burden of proof is on the clinician to demonstrate its pathogenic role in a given situation.