| Summary: | <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> is a leading cause of nosocomial infections that severely threaten public health. The formidable adaptability and resistance of this opportunistic pathogen have hampered the development of antimicrobial therapies which consequently leads to very limited treatment options. We mapped the global prevalence of multidrug-resistant <i>A. baumannii</i> and showed that carbapenem-resistant <i>A. baumannii</i> is widespread throughout Asia and the Americas. Moreover, when antimicrobial resistance rates of <i>Acinetobacter</i> spp. exceed a threshold level, the proportion of <i>A. baumannii</i> isolates from clinical samples surges. Therefore, vaccines represent a realistic alternative strategy to tackle this pathogen. Research into anti-<i>A. baumannii</i> vaccines have enhanced in the past decade and multiple antigens have been investigated preclinically with varying results. This review summarises the current knowledge of virulence factors relating to <i>A. baumannii</i>–host interactions and its implication in vaccine design, with a view to understanding the current state of <i>A. baumannii</i> vaccine development and the direction of future efforts.
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