Microbiological air quality in pharmacies and an antibiotic resistance profile of staphylococci species

Abstract

The air in public facilities contains microorganisms which may cause a wide variety of clinical syndromes in humans. This is particularly important in primary healthcare units, where patients with reduced immunity and staff are directly exposed to microbial pathogens. Air samples were collected from dispensing areas (customer areas) of five pharmacies using MAS-100 air sampler. The concentration of particular groups of microorganisms was determined with the use of selective media. The taxonomic analysis of mannitol-positive bacteria was conducted using the BIOLOG Ò method, based on metabolic characteristics of analyzed strains. The isolated molds were identified based on their macroscopic and microscopic features according to available keys. The antimicrobial susceptibility of identified staphylococci was tested using the disk diffusion method in accordance with The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing recommendations. The highest average concentrations of heterotrophic bacteria and staphylococci were recorded in two hospital pharmacies. The highest average concentrations of molds were recorded in the pharmacies located in shopping centers. Taxonomic analysis indicated that Cladosporium and Penicillium spp. predominated among the isolated molds while Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Staphylococcus aureus, among mannitol-positive bacteria. Antibiograms showed that the majority of Staphylococcus strains (68.2%) were resistant to erythromycin. There was a statistically significant correlation between the concentration of investigated bacteria and the season of the year as well as the size and location of the pharmacies. The results demonstrate that there is a range of factors affecting air quality in public spaces and emphasize the fact that pharmacies can be a source of potentially pathogenic, drug-resistant bacteria.

Seasonal variation and size distribution in the airborne indoor microbial concentration of residential houses in Delhi and its impact on health

“…(Madhwal et al, 2020 ) monitored the bioaerosols near Bus station and an almost similar trend was recorded in all the seasons. Aspergillus, Penicillium , and Cladosporium were the most dominant fungi; however, Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, , and Bacillus were the most dominant bacterial genera (Madhwal et al, 2020 ), and the same results were shown in the monitoring of indoor air of pharmacy (Jankowiak et al, 2020 ). Fungal aerosols started declining from July–August, which may be due to increased soil moisture and hence, decreased resuspension of fungi in these months (Fan et al, 2017 ; Rathnayake et al, 2017 ).…”

Water as a Source of Indoor Air Contamination with Potentially Pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila in Aquaculture

“…The antibiotic resistance profiles of A. hydrophila isolated from indoor and outdoor air have never been described in the literature, because this bacterial species is not considered in studies monitoring the microbiological quality of indoor and outdoor air. It should also be noted that indoor air microbiota comprise mainly Grampositive bacteria, whereas Gram-negative bacteria, including A. hydrophila, are sporadically detected [7,42,43]. Only a single species of Gram-positive bacteria was identified in a study analyzing the antibiotic resistance of strains isolated from bioaerosols in an office building in Gliwice, Poland.…”

Microbiological contamination of indoor and outdoor environments in a desert climate

“…They indicated a high microbiological contamination level in the hospital air. Jankowiak et al ( 2020 ) measured microbiological contamination in dispensing areas in pharmacies in hospital buildings. The results showed that the highest heterotrophic bacteria and staphylococci concentrations recorded were in pharmacies.…”