Microbial Study of Hospital Environment and Carrier Pattern Study among Staff in Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital

Abstract

The present study was conducted during a period of 11 months (September 2005 to July 2006) tostudy the occurrence of microorganisms in environmental (air and surface) samples from differentwards of Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital (NMCTH) and also to study the carrierpattern among the staffs working in the hospital.Random microbiological study was done.Altogether 203 environment samples: 86 air samples and 117 surface samples from differentwards. Similarly 150samples from the personnels working in the hospital: 48 for nasal, 48 forthroat and 54 for hand carrierdetectionwere collected and studied.Gram positive cocci were the most predominant ones among the bacterial isolates from theenvironment followed by gram positivebacilli and then gramnegativebacilli.Coagulase negativestaphylococci were the most predominant bacteria followed by Staphylococcus aureus,Micrococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Bacillus spp., and gram negative rods. Various gramnegative rods isolated in the order of frequency arePseudomonas aeruginosa,Escherichiacoli,Klebsiella spp. and Citrobacter spp. Most of the isolates showed resistance to amoxicillinfollowed by erythromycin. Out of 182 environmental isolates ofS. aureus,1.6% was resistant tomethicillin.Among fungal isolates yeast were the most common isolates whileAspergillusspp.were the most frequently occurring mold. Out of 150 samples collected for the study of carrierpattern, 32 out of 54 samples collected were found to haveS.aureusin their hands, 1 hadE. coli.Other isolates from the handswereBacillus spp., Streptococcus pneumoniae,Micrococci andCoNS. Similarly out of 48 nasal samples,S. aureuswas isolated from 21 (43.8%) samplesand 14of these also had S. aureus in their hands. Among 53 isolates of S. aureus from the hands andnose of the staffs, 5.7% were resistant to methicillin. None of the staffs were found to have betahemolytic streptococci in their throat.