Air-borne microbial contamination of surfaces in a UK dental clinic

Decraene, Valérie; Ready, Derren; Pratten, Jonathan; Wilson, Michael

doi:10.2323/jgam.54.195

Cited by 39 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…To our knowledge, antibiotic resistance profiling of the airborne bacterial community in a subway station has not previously been addressed, but several studies have addressed antibiotic resistance of airborne bacteria in other specific environments (14,17,25,30,58), such as cattle, swine, or poultry farms (1,26,57). The results obtained in the present study show that most dominant bacterial genera have a very high frequency of resistance to NAL, except for Bacillus and Paenibacillus spp., which had 14 and 0% frequencies of resistance, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Characterization of Airborne Bacteria at an Underground Subway Station

Dybwad

Granum

Bruheim

et al. 2012

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The reliable detection of airborne biological threat agents depends on several factors, including the performance criteria of the detector and its operational environment. One step in improving the detector's performance is to increase our knowledge of the biological aerosol background in potential operational environments. Subway stations are enclosed public environments, which may be regarded as potential targets for incidents involving biological threat agents. In this study, the airborne bacterial community at a subway station in Norway was characterized (concentration level, diversity, and virulence-and survival-associated properties). In addition, a SASS 3100 high-volume air sampler and a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry-based isolate screening procedure was used for these studies. The daytime level of airborne bacteria at the station was higher than the nighttime and outdoor levels, and the relative bacterial spore number was higher in outdoor air than at the station. The bacterial content, particle concentration, and size distribution were stable within each environment throughout the study (May to September 2010). The majority of the airborne bacteria belonged to the genera Bacillus, Micrococcus, and Staphylococcus, but a total of 37 different genera were identified in the air. These results suggest that anthropogenic sources are major contributors to airborne bacteria at subway stations and that such airborne communities could harbor virulence-and survival-associated properties of potential relevance for biological detection and surveillance, as well as for public health. Our findings also contribute to the development of realistic testing and evaluation schemes for biological detection/surveillance systems by providing information that can be used to mimic real-life operational airborne environments in controlled aerosol test chambers.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Characterization of Airborne Bacteria at an Underground Subway Station

Dybwad

Granum

Bruheim

et al. 2012

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…M . luteus was also found; it is considered a non-pathogenic skin bacterium, but it has caused various infections in immunocompromised patients [35], [36], [37]. S .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Microbial Diversity in Biofilms Recovered from Endotracheal Tubes Using Culture Dependent and Independent Approaches

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common nosocomial infection in mechanically ventilated patients. Biofilm formation is one of the mechanisms through which the endotracheal tube (ET) facilitates bacterial contamination of the lower airways. In the present study, we analyzed the composition of the ET biofilm flora by means of culture dependent and culture independent (16 S rRNA gene clone libraries and pyrosequencing) approaches. Overall, the microbial diversity was high and members of different phylogenetic lineages were detected (Actinobacteria, beta-Proteobacteria, Candida spp., Clostridia, epsilon-Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and gamma-Proteobacteria). Culture dependent analysis, based on the use of selective growth media and conventional microbiological tests, resulted in the identification of typical aerobic nosocomial pathogens which are known to play a role in the development of VAP, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Other opportunistic pathogens were also identified, including Staphylococcus epidermidis and Kocuria varians. In general, there was little correlation between the results obtained by sequencing 16 S rRNA gene clone libraries and by cultivation. Pyrosequencing of PCR amplified 16 S rRNA genes of four selected samples resulted in the identification of a much wider variety of bacteria. The results from the pyrosequencing analysis suggest that these four samples were dominated by members of the normal oral flora such as Prevotella spp., Peptostreptococcus spp. and lactic acid bacteria. A combination of methods is recommended to obtain a complete picture of the microbial diversity of the ET biofilm.

show abstract

“…Indoor air is well recognized as a vehicle for the direct and indirect spread of a wide variety of human pathogens (Decraene et al . ; Sattar et al . ; Zemouri et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantitative method to assess the role of indoor air decontamination to simultaneously reduce contamination of environmental surfaces: testing with vegetative and spore-forming bacteria

Zargar¹,

Sattar

Rubino

et al. 2019

Letters in Applied Microbiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Indoor air can spread pathogens, which can be removed/inactivated by a variety of means in healthcare and other settings. We quantitatively assessed if air decontamination could also simultaneously reduce environmental surface contamination in the same setting. Two types of vegetative bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii), and a bacterial spore‐former (Geobacillus stearothermophilus) were tested as representative airborne bacteria. They were separately aerosolized with a Collison nebulizer into a 24‐m3 aerobiology chamber and air samples collected with a programmable slit‐to‐agar sampler. Settling airborne particles were collected on culture plates placed at, and collected from, five different locations on the floor of the chamber with a custom‐built remote plate‐placement and ‐retriever system. Experimentally contaminated air in the chamber was decontaminated for 45 min with a device based on HEPA filtration and UV light. The plates were incubated and CFU counted. The device reduced the viability levels of all tested bacteria in the air by >3 log10 (>99·9%) in 45 min. Based on two separate tests, the average reductions in surface contamination for S. aureus, A. baumannii and G. stearothermophilus were respectively, 97, 87 and 97%. We thus showed that air decontamination could substantially and simultaneously reduce the levels of surface contamination in the same setting irrespective of the type of pathogen present. Significance and Impact of the Study The innovative and generic test protocol described can quantitatively assess the reduction in environmental surface contamination from microbial decontamination of indoor air in the same setting. This added advantage from air decontamination has implications for infection prevention and control in healthcare and other settings without the need for additional expense or effort. Continuous operation of an air decontamination device, such as the one tested here, can lead to ongoing reductions in pathogens in air and on environmental surfaces.

show abstract

Air-borne microbial contamination of surfaces in a UK dental clinic

Cited by 39 publications

References 16 publications

Characterization of Airborne Bacteria at an Underground Subway Station

Characterization of Airborne Bacteria at an Underground Subway Station

Assessment of Microbial Diversity in Biofilms Recovered from Endotracheal Tubes Using Culture Dependent and Independent Approaches

A quantitative method to assess the role of indoor air decontamination to simultaneously reduce contamination of environmental surfaces: testing with vegetative and spore-forming bacteria

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About