Reverse Vaccinology Approach to Potential Vaccine Candidates Against Acinetobacter baumannii.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a rapidly evolving pathogen that largely inhabits intensive care units (ICU). This opportunistic， gram-negative organism has shown noteworthy taxonomic variations during the past three decades. A. baumannii functions as a catalase-positive， oxidase-negative obligate， aerobic， nonmotile， highly infectious， and multidrug-resistant bacterium. Therefore， the infection caused by this bacterium tends to have a fairly higher incidence rate in immune-compromised individuals ranging from 26.5% to 91%， as it colonizes in skin tissues and secretions of the respiratory tract. Recently， it has been globally labeled as a "red alert" pathogen， setting alarms throughout the medical community， arising mainly due to its widespread antibiotic resistance continuum. There is a dire need for alternative therapeutic intervention to combat A. baumannii-associated infections and the growing resistance. This chapter focuses upon the reverse vaccinology-based steps and strategies to identify novel potential vaccine candidates against this emerging pathogen.