Bacterial analysis of air sample from the nursery ward of a tertiary hospital in Alabang,Muntinlupa City
Abstract/Summary
Air sample was collected from the nursery ward of tertiary government hospital in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Sampling was conducted using the Andersen Staplex Air Sampler in July 2013. The bacterial load was found to be 90 CFU/ m3 of air, calculated from flow rate of 2.35 m3/hour and sampling period of 20 minutes. Polymerase chain reaction using 16s rDNA universal primers produced 1.5 kb amplicons in 66 isolates. PCR amplicons were sequenced using the forward and reverse primers, and were identified using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool of The National Center for Biotechnology Information. Results showed the presence of 14 genera belonging to 24 different species of bacteria. The 35 isolatesor 53% were identified to belong to the genus Staphylococcus. The eight species of Staphylococcusisolated in the study have been reported to be opportunistic and known to cause infections.Pseudomonas(5 isolates) and Acinetobacter(4 isolates) are also known to be associated with healthcare-acquired infections. The study shows that it is imperative for the hospital administration to reassess the infection control program and be very strict in implementing aseptic procedures like proper handling of equipment, hand washing, hygiene, etc.
