Acinetobacter baumannii is a significant pathogen in
nosocomial infections, especially in
intensive care units. However,
community-acquired A. baumannii (CAAB)
pneumonia is an uncommon
disease. Most of the CAAB
pneumonia in the
literature is characterized by an abrupt onset and rapid progression to
respiratory failure and
hemodynamic instability. In our case, a 51-year-old man without underlying
diseases developed severe
pneumonia. Respiratory distress rapidly worsened and
mechanical ventilation was applied. Extra-corporeal
membrane oxygenation was applied due to refractory
septic shock. Fully sensitive A. baumannii
pneumonia was confirmed by the
sputum culture and
blood culture. The
patient was effectively treated by the
meropenem. However, the
patient died of uncontrolled
ventilator-associated pneumonia, developed on the 10th
hospital day, and refractory
septic shock. We
report the case of severe CAAB
pneumonia with
bacteremia in a
patient without underlying
diseases in
Korea.