Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility
Air contamination in the hospital setting can be a reason for the spread of nosocomial infection among susceptible patients. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial species, and their load and drug resistance, in the air of a tertiary hospital. Air samples were collected on a monthly basis f...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-06-01
|
| Series: | Biomedicines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/8/6/163 |
| _version_ | 1797565096364343296 |
|---|---|
| author | Athanasios Tselebonis Evangelia Nena Maria Panopoulou Christos Kontogiorgis Eugenia Bezirtzoglou Theodoros Constantinidis |
| author_facet | Athanasios Tselebonis Evangelia Nena Maria Panopoulou Christos Kontogiorgis Eugenia Bezirtzoglou Theodoros Constantinidis |
| author_sort | Athanasios Tselebonis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Air contamination in the hospital setting can be a reason for the spread of nosocomial infection among susceptible patients. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial species, and their load and drug resistance, in the air of a tertiary hospital. Air samples were collected on a monthly basis for 12 consecutive months in four different departments of the hospital (Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Internal Medicine Ward (IMW), Surgical Ward (SW), and Neonatal Unit (NU)). In total, 101 samples were collected, out of which 158 Gram-positive (GP) and 44 Gram-negative (GN) strains were isolated. The majority of GP isolates were <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp. (<i>n</i> = 100). The highest total microbial load was reported in the IMW (<i>p</i> = 0.005), while the highest Staphylococcus load was observed in the ICU (<i>p</i> = 0.018). GP bacterial load was higher in autumn, while GN load was higher in spring. Regarding drug resistance, four multi-drug-resistant (MDR) strains and one extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain were isolated in the ICU, two MDR strains and one XDR strain in the SW, one MDR strain in the IMW and one MDR strain in the NU samples. Air in hospital settings is contaminated with various microbes; some of them are MDR, consisting a potential cause of hospital-acquired infection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:07:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7155462388ee4acf9f0e518436ef0c98 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9059 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:07:07Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biomedicines |
| spelling | doaj.art-7155462388ee4acf9f0e518436ef0c982023-11-20T04:03:46ZengMDPI AGBiomedicines2227-90592020-06-018616310.3390/biomedicines8060163Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial SusceptibilityAthanasios Tselebonis0Evangelia Nena1Maria Panopoulou2Christos Kontogiorgis3Eugenia Bezirtzoglou4Theodoros Constantinidis5Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceLaboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceLaboratory of Microbiology, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceLaboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceLaboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceLaboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceAir contamination in the hospital setting can be a reason for the spread of nosocomial infection among susceptible patients. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial species, and their load and drug resistance, in the air of a tertiary hospital. Air samples were collected on a monthly basis for 12 consecutive months in four different departments of the hospital (Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Internal Medicine Ward (IMW), Surgical Ward (SW), and Neonatal Unit (NU)). In total, 101 samples were collected, out of which 158 Gram-positive (GP) and 44 Gram-negative (GN) strains were isolated. The majority of GP isolates were <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp. (<i>n</i> = 100). The highest total microbial load was reported in the IMW (<i>p</i> = 0.005), while the highest Staphylococcus load was observed in the ICU (<i>p</i> = 0.018). GP bacterial load was higher in autumn, while GN load was higher in spring. Regarding drug resistance, four multi-drug-resistant (MDR) strains and one extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain were isolated in the ICU, two MDR strains and one XDR strain in the SW, one MDR strain in the IMW and one MDR strain in the NU samples. Air in hospital settings is contaminated with various microbes; some of them are MDR, consisting a potential cause of hospital-acquired infection.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/8/6/163hospital hygieneair contaminationnosocomial infectiondrug resistancemicrobial load |
| spellingShingle | Athanasios Tselebonis Evangelia Nena Maria Panopoulou Christos Kontogiorgis Eugenia Bezirtzoglou Theodoros Constantinidis Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Biomedicines hospital hygiene air contamination nosocomial infection drug resistance microbial load |
| title | Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility |
| title_full | Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility |
| title_fullStr | Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility |
| title_short | Air Contamination in Different Departments of a Tertiary Hospital. Assessment of Microbial Load and of Antimicrobial Susceptibility |
| title_sort | air contamination in different departments of a tertiary hospital assessment of microbial load and of antimicrobial susceptibility |
| topic | hospital hygiene air contamination nosocomial infection drug resistance microbial load |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/8/6/163 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT athanasiostselebonis aircontaminationindifferentdepartmentsofatertiaryhospitalassessmentofmicrobialloadandofantimicrobialsusceptibility AT evangelianena aircontaminationindifferentdepartmentsofatertiaryhospitalassessmentofmicrobialloadandofantimicrobialsusceptibility AT mariapanopoulou aircontaminationindifferentdepartmentsofatertiaryhospitalassessmentofmicrobialloadandofantimicrobialsusceptibility AT christoskontogiorgis aircontaminationindifferentdepartmentsofatertiaryhospitalassessmentofmicrobialloadandofantimicrobialsusceptibility AT eugeniabezirtzoglou aircontaminationindifferentdepartmentsofatertiaryhospitalassessmentofmicrobialloadandofantimicrobialsusceptibility AT theodorosconstantinidis aircontaminationindifferentdepartmentsofatertiaryhospitalassessmentofmicrobialloadandofantimicrobialsusceptibility |