PREVALENCE AND ANTIBIOTIC SENSITIVITY OF BACTERIA ON DOOR HANDLES IN SOME HOSPITALS

ABSTRACT

Microorganisms are everywhere including the surfaces of inanimate objects and contacts with these objects transfer microbes to humans, examples of such inanimate objects are door handles and door frames. Staphylococcus aureus has been evolving continuously and developing resistance to antibiotics for years. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a prime nosocomial pathogen for patients in our hospitals, houses and work places. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and survival of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other bacteria on door handles in some hospitals in Benin City, Nigeria. This study was carried out in Benin City using three (3) hospitals, they were hospital 1, hospital 2 and hospital 3. The swab samples were collected twice monthly between July, 2017 and June, 2018 from door handles of the hospitals. In the study, the samples were collected from thirteen (13) units of the hospitals investigated, these included Waiting Area, Revenue, Theatre; Laboratory, Blood Bank, Antenatal, Special Care Baby Unit, Central Outpatient Department, Pharmacy, Maternity Ward, Male Ward, Children’s Ward and Female Ward. The temperature and relative humidity of the sampled areas were determined while the bacteriological analyses were carried out using standard microbiological methods. Further characterization was carried out using the molecular technique. Virulent factors of the isolates recovered from door handles sampled were analyzed. The antibiotics susceptibility pattern of the isolates was carried out using disc diffusion method. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were subjected to methicillin sensitivity test. All bacteria isolates were screened for the presence of plasmid and those harboring plasmid were cured and resubjected to antibiotic sensitivity test using disc diffusion method. The survival rate of the isolates on door handles for a period of 25 days were investigated. The transfer of isolates from door handles to humans using five panelists through contact was determined.