Microbial load of indoor airborne bacteria and fungi in a teaching hospital in Ghana

Abstract

The hospital, even though a place for the sick people, is inhabited by medical staff, administrative, security and patients who may share common microbes in the hospital environment. Some of these organisms may be pathogenic and may pose health hazard to humans through inhalation in the hospital atmosphere. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the microbial load of airborne microorganisms in some selected units of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and to suggest possible means to reduce the load. The microbial loads of nine units of the Tamale Teaching Hospital were estimated. Passive air sampling technique, applying open Petri-dishes containing different culture media, was employed to collect sample twice daily for the two seasons witnessed in Ghana. The concentrations of airborne microorganisms in the indoor environment of the wards ranged between 277.61-5395.14 CFU/m 3. The statistical analysis showed that the highest bacterial and fungal loads, 5395.14 CFU/m 3 and 2021.87 CFU/m 3 , respectively were recorded in outpatient department (OPD) and the least, 492.37 CFU/m 3 and 277.61 CFU/m 3 , respectively observed in the theatre ward. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were among the bacterial isolates. The fungal isolates include: Aspergillus spp., Alternaria spp., and Fusarium spp. Generally, all units of the hospital harbored very high concentrations of bioaerosols, except the theatre ward.

Microbial Indoor Air Quality and Associated Factors in Jimma Town Prison Administration, Southwestern Ethiopia

“…However, our result is in agreement with those of Larrey et al, in which the bacterial load ranged from 278 to 2022 CFU/m 3 . 4 In general, almost all rooms (89.5%) of the Jimma town prison administration have bacterial and fungal load above the acceptable limit. 28…”

“…However, our result is in agreement with those of Larrey et al, in which the bacterial load ranged from 278 to 2022 CFU/m 3 . 4 In general, almost all rooms (89.5%) of the Jimma town prison administration have bacterial and fungal load above the acceptable limit. 28 The maximum S. aureus, as well as the fungal load, were detected in the same room (Table 3) which implies the determining factors for both inhabitants of the indoor environment could be similar.…”

“…Similarly, our result disagrees with those of Larrey et al, a study conducted in a teaching hospital in Ghana in which the bacterial load ranged from 492 to 5395 CFU/m 3 . 4 The variation might be excused by the difference in study season and setting (hospital versus prison). In the former work, both dry and wet seasons were considered, unlike in the present study.…”

“…These building premises include; colleges, hospitals, offices, restaurants, homes, and similar partially closed settings 1 where people stay inside more than 90% of their time. [2][3][4][5] IAQ is a major public health concern and known to affect the health, comfort, and well-being of the residents, 6 especially those individuals with comorbidity from respiratory and allergic problems and who have suppressed immunity level. 5 Pollution of the interior environment has been linked to many human health problems.…”

Calidad microbiológica del aire en un Centro Comunitario de Salud Familiar de Talcahuano, Región del Biobío, Chile

“…Bacillus, es un género de bacterias esporuladas donde se incluyen numerosas especies, mayoritariamente habitantes del ambiente y Staphylococcus, un género bacteriano que se encuentra en la piel y mucosas del hombre y otros animales, que suele ser transportada por las actividades comunes de éstos y por el polvo que se encuentra en suspensión o en el suelo 13 Numerosos estudios coincidentes con estos resultados indican que las bacterias grampositivas corresponden al grupo más importante aisladas desde el aire 5,13,19,20 . Esto sería consecuencia de la gruesa pared celular presentada por las bacterias grampositivas que le permite ser más resistentes a las condiciones ambientales que las gramnegativas 21 . En relación a las bacterias gramnegativas identificadas, éstas correspondieron a P. oryzihabitans y A. lwoffii, ambos bacilos gramnegativos no fermentadores, cuyo hábitat es principalmente ambientes húmedos 22,23 .…”