Eight-year surveillance of environmental fungal contamination in hospital operating rooms and haematological units

Faure, O.; Fricker‐Hidalgo, Hélène; Lebeau, B.; Mallaret, Marie-Reine; Ambroise-Thomas, P; Grillot, R

doi:10.1053/jhin.2001.1148

Cited by 78 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Cultures in the air samples are usually the only parameters used to assess indoor fungal contamination [8]. According to several authors [9][10][11], surfaces analysis complements microbiological characterization of the air and is used in order to identify contamination sources. It may also be used to evaluate efficacy of surface cleaning and disinfection procedures.…”

Section: Conventional Methodologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of surfaces for characterization of fungal burden – Does it matter?

Viegas¹,

Faria²,

Meneses³

et al. 2016

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Objectives: Mycological contamination of occupational environments can be a result of fungal spores' dispersion in the air and on surfaces. Therefore, it is very important to assess it in both types of the samples. In the present study we assessed fungal contamination in the air and in the surface samples to show relevance of surfaces sampling in complementing the results obtained in the air samples. Material and Methods: In total, 42 settings were assessed by the analysis of air and surfaces samples. The settings were divided into settings with a high fungal load (7 poultry farms and 7 pig farms, 3 cork industries, 3 waste management plants, 2 wastewater treatment plants and 1 horse stable) and a low fungal load (10 hospital canteens, 8 college canteens and 1 maternity hospital). In addition to culture-based methods, molecular tools were also applied to detect fungal burden in the settings with a higher fungal load. Results: From the 218 sampling sites, 140 (64.2%) presented different species in the examined surfaces when compared with the species identified in the air. A positive association in the high fungal load settings was found between the presence of different species in the air and surfaces. Wastewater treatment plants constituted the setting with the highest number of different species between the air and surface. Conclusions: We observed that surfaces sampling and application of molecular tools showed the same efficacy of species detection in high fungal load settings, corroborating the fact that surface sampling is crucial for a correct and complete analysis of occupational scenarios.

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Section: Conventional Methodologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of surfaces for characterization of fungal burden – Does it matter?

Viegas¹,

Faria²,

Meneses³

et al. 2016

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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“…Faure et al [16] used the acceptability threshold for hospital settings > 2 CFU/room without A. fumigatus [16]. This threshold was used to interpret air results and to perform, as soon as possible, corrective measures in the contaminated areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of fungal contamination in a Portuguese maternity unit

Viegas

Sabino

Veríssimo

et al. 2011

Environmental Health and Biomedicine

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A descriptive study was developed to monitor air fungal contamination in one Portuguese maternity. Sixty air samples were collected through impaction method. Air sampling was performed in food storage facilities, kitchen, food plating, canteen, pharmacy, sterilization areas, genecology wards, intensive care unit, operating rooms, urgency and also, outside premises, since this was the place regarded as reference. Besides air samples, forty three samples were collected by swabbing the surfaces using a 10 by 10 cm square stencil. Simultaneously, temperature, relative humidity and particles counting (PM10) were registered. Twenty three species of fungi were identified in air, being the two most commonly isolated the genera Penicillium (41,5%) and Cladosporium (28,4%). Regarding yeasts, only Rhodotorula sp. (45,2%), Trichosporon mucoides (51,6%) and Cryptococcus neoformans (3,2%) were found. Thirteen species of fungi were identified in surfaces, being the most frequent the Penicillium genus (91,6%). Concerning yeasts found in surfaces, four species were identified being Rhodotorula sp. (29,1%) the most frequent.There was no coincidence between prevailing genera indoors and outside premises. Moreover, some places presented fungal species different from the ones isolated outside. In the inside environment, Aspergillus species were isolated in air and surfaces. There was no significant relationship (p>0,05) between fungal contamination and the studied environmental variables.

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“…Members of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium and Mucorales are regarded as the main cause of fungal infections in hospitals [39][40][41]. Prior to potential dissemination, spores emanating from these colonies can be inhaled by immunosuppressed patients, resulting in local infections [42].…”

Section: Primary Fungal Growth and High-risk Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%