Analysis of air in the hospital environment

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International Journal of Development Research

Analysis of air in the hospital environment

Abstract: 

The aim of this study is to determine the presence of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in the hospital environment. The samples for the study were obtained from the hospital wards and were taken from the indoor air during, before and after disinfection by means of settle plate method. Nutrient agar, Blood agar, Macconkey agar, and Sabouraud‘s dextrose agar were used for isolation of bacteria and fungi respectively. 35 bacterial species and 19 fungal species were cultured from the hospital wards. The most frequently isolated bacteria was 43% Staphylococcus aureus, followed by 26% Klebsiella pneumoniae, 14% E.coli, 11% Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 6% Proteus mirabilis. The commonly isolated fungi was 43% Aspergillus niger followed by 27% Candida albicans, 10% Fusarium spp, 10% Rhizopus spp and 10% Mucor spp. Samples were collected over a period of three months, between April-June 2014. During the first month (April), no disinfectants were used and the air sample was collected by settle plate method from different areas of the hospital and it showed positive results for bacteria and fungi with exuberant growth. The second month (May) samplings were collected by the same technique after the utilization of Phenol as disinfectant in the same areas that were screened in the first month. This had bacterial and fungal growth but with less number of colonies. The third month (June) samples were screened after using 2% Sodium hypochlorite as the disinfectant in specified areas. This agent inhibited the bacterial and fungal growth and majority of the plates were sterile. From the results observed in the study, the following issues were analyzed: 1.Airborne microbes in the hospital environment. 2.Most appropriate disinfectant that can be used. 3.Formulation of infection control measures. 4.Health education pertaining to hospital environment and 5.Infections related to the diseases and 6.Its control measures.

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