ABSTRACT
Air harbours large quantity of bacteria and fungi and the knowledge of their number is very important as an index of hygiene for any particular environment. It becomes imperative to carry out microbiological analysis of the indoor air in the undergraduate hostels on the University of Benin campus, Benin-city. The Air Samples were obtained from four locations within the campus premises: The ground water samples were obtained from three locations within the campus premises; from Hall 1, Hall 3, Hall 4, Hall 5 and Hall 6 student hostels in University of Benin, Ugbowo Campus, Benin City. The air samples were collected from rooms, kitchens and bathrooms of the aforementioned hostels. Samples intended for bacteriological analyses were collected with sterilized labelled petri dishes. The results of the various air samples ranged from 0.275 × 103cfu/m-3 to 1.982 × 103 cfu/m-3 where the highest bacterial count was from hall 1 toilet, while the least bacterial count was from hall 6 kitchen. In this study, the bacteria isolated were: Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus sp. Bacillus sp were both present in the Hall 3 Room, Hall 3 Kitchen, Hall 3 Toilet, Hall 5 Kitchen, Hall 4 study room, Hall 4 room, Hall 4 toilet and Hall 1 toilet. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was present in Hall 6 room, Hall 6 kitchen, Hall 6 toilet, Hall 5 toilet, Hall 1 room and Hall 1 Kitchen. Staphylococcus aureus is present in Hall 3 room, Hall 4 study room, Hall 4 room, Hall 4 toilet and Hall 1 toilet. Streptococcus sp. was observed in the Hall 3 toilet and Hall 5 kitchen. Bacillus sp I and II have the highest frequency of occurrence (27.59%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.69%), Staphylococcus aureus (13.79%) and Streptococcus sp. with the lowest frequency of occurrence (10.34%). Bacillus sp. I was observed to be resistant to Septrin, Sparfloxacin, Amoxacillin and Augmentin. Bacillus sp. was observed to be resistant to Septrin and Augmentin but susceptible to Ciprofloxacin and Tarivid while Streptococcus sp. was observed to be susceptible to all antibiotics tested except Augmentin to which it was resistant. After curing, it was observed that Bacillus sp. I was resistant only to Augmentin while Bacillus sp. II was no longer resistant. This indicates that the antibiotic resistance gene is present in the plasmid and not in the nucleus of the cells. The present study has shown that potential pathogenic microorganisms were present in the indoor environment of University of Benin undergraduate hostels and there was correlation of the organisms in terms of number and species. The bacterial concentration of air obtained in the study might be a potential risk fators for spread of infection in the hostels. This, there is need for regular air quality monitoring to identify and control those environmental factors which favours the growth and multiplication of multiplication of microbes.
