Acinetobacter baumannii is a notorious Gram-negative nosocomial pathogen with a high mortality rate (up to more than 70%). The rapid emergence of highly antibiotic-resistant strains is a further propellant to introduce the bacterium as a serious threat to public health. Hence, World Health Organisation (WHO) listed A. baumannii (carbapenem-resistant) as the first priority that needs new antibiotics. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highly increased the outbreak of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii infections. Although massive efforts to nominate efficient antibiotics had been conducted, no one has been yet found. Hence, further approaches such as immunization trials had been considered as alternative solutions against A. baumannii infections.
Several antigens had been introduced for active and passive immunizations. Specific monoclonal antibodies, as well as specific egg yolk antibodies (IgYs), had been recently administered as promising biotherapeutics for passive immunizations.

An effective robust immunization should induce full protection against various types of infections and against all pathogenic strains. Moreover, it should have no deleterious effect on microbiota as well as the human proteome. Since A. baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen, considerations on target population to be immunized is another important subject.

Despite rigorous basic and pre-clinical studies conducted on active and passive immunizations against this pathogen, no one has been advanced to clinical trials.

The increased outbreak of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii infections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have incited to accelerate the development of effective immunizations against A. baumannii. In this Research Topic, we aim to generate a collection of articles on immunization studies against A. baumannii. Potential topics include but are not limited to:
- Harnessing innate immunity against A. baumannii
- Safety of immune-based therapies against A. baumannii
- Novel vaccine delivery strategies and vaccination routes for A. baumannii
- Adjuvants for A. baumannii vaccines
- Microbiota and Immunization trials against A. baumannii
- Application of bioinformatics, and reverse vaccinology for immunization against A. baumannii
- Active and passive immunizations against A. baumannii.
- Novel antigens against A. baumannii.

We welcome the submission of Original Research, Reviews, Perspectives and Clinical Trials articles.

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