Al Ain, 26th June 2010 — Ms. Noura Abdullah Al Munthari, Master of Medical Sciences, studying at UAEU in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, has defended her thesis on a study of antibiotic resistant bacteria found in Abu Dhabi Hospitals. Her thesis paper entitled “Molecular epidemiology of multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Abu Dhabi hospitals” examines strains of the bacteria which can cause life threatening complications for hospital patients if they become infected while receiving treatment.
Ms. Al Munthari said:”Although A. baumannii hospital outbreaks have been studied in detail world-wide, little was known about the local situation. This is why we started studying this bacterium in local Abu Dhabi hospitals. We found that several clusters of strains made of multi-drug resistant bacteria are present here, which suggests local outbreaks. The majority of these strains represent types which are also present in other parts of the world but a cluster was also identified which we think might be more characteristic to the Gulf region.” The bacterium, Acinetobacter baumannii, poses almost no threat to healthy people, but can cause serious disease in those whose immune systems are already compromised, such as burn victims, or patients who have been fitted with catheters or breathing tubes as part of their treatment. The bacterium is also multi-drug resistant (MDR) and as such can be very difficult to treat.
Professor Tibor P?l, Professor of Microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at UAEU, stated that:”One of the most pressing problems of today’s healthcare is the rapid increase of antibiotic resistance: drugs which had been effective just a few decades ago frequently prove obsolete in fighting life-threatening infections. One of the organisms emerging into the spotlight in the past few years is Acinetobacter baumannii. This organism has a remarkable capacity to gain resistance to antibiotics and disinfectants and to become multi-drug resistant (MDR, and as such poses a major problem for hospitals worldwide.” Dr. Abdullah Al Khanbashi, Vice Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University, said:”Ms. Al Munthari’s research in this area of microbiology is very important in terms of the challenges faced today by local and global healthcare systems and practitioners. We are pleased that our Masters students here at UAEU are able to continue contributing their knowledge and expertise to the nation in this way.”