Isolation and Identification of Airborne Pathogen from a General Hospital Wards in Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70882/josrar.2025.v2i1.32Keywords:
Nosocomial Infection, Hospitals, Airborne, Pathogens, Bacteria, FungiAbstract
Nosocomial infection poses a significant and pervasive threat to human health, thereby remains a significant concern globally, with airborne pathogens contributing substantially to their transmission. This study was conducted to isolate and identify bacteria and fungi airborne pathogens of some selected wards at Yusuf Danstoho Memorial Hospital, Tudun Wada, Kaduna. The microbial quality of indoor air of five wards which include; Accident and Emergency (A and E) unit, Male Medical Ward (MMW), Male Surgical Ward (MSW), Female Medical Ward (FMW), and Female Surgical Ward (FSW) was conducted. Sedimentation technique using open Petri-dishes containing different culture media was employed, isolates were identified according to standard methods. The isolated bacterial species were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Micrococcus sp. from the study. Pseudomonas aeruginosa has the highest percentage occurrence of 28.89%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (24.24%), then Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.00%), while Escherichia coli (15.56%) and Micrococcus sp recorded the least (11.11%). Fungi isolates obtained were Aspergillus spp, Penicellium spp and Candida sp. with Aspergillus spp. having the highest occurrence of 52.94%, followed by Penicellium spp and Candida spp both with 23.52%. The accident and emergency ward (A & E) recorded the highest airborne bacterial and fungal population with 24.44% and 26.47% respectively. The results also showed that airborne bacterial pathogens were present in all the sampled hospital wards. These findings emphasize the need for stringent cleaning and ventilation measures in our hospitals to prevent nosocomial infections.
References
Alteri, C.J. and Mobley H.L. (2012). Escherichia coli physiology and metabolism dictates adaptation to diverse host microenvironments, Current Opinion Microbiology, 15(1): p. 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2011.12.004
Awoke, D. (2011). Longitudinal bacteriology of burn patients at Yekatit 12 hospital burn center, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia AAU electronic library 1–51.
Awosika, S. A., Olajubu, F. A., and Amusa, N. A. (2012). Microbiological assessment of indoor air of a teaching hospital in Nigeria. Asian Pacific Journal of tropical biomedical, 2: 465–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2221-1691(12)60077-X
Barnett, H.L., Hunter, B.B. (1972). Illustrated Genera of Imperfect Fungi. Burgess, Minnesota, 3rd ed, 273. 18.
Bolookat, F., Hassanvand, M.S., Faridi, S., Hadei, M., Rahmatinia, M., Alimohammadi, M. (2018). Assessment of bioaerosol particle characteristics at different hospital wards and operating theaters: a case study in Tehran, Methodology, 5:1588–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2018.11.021
Caggiano, G., Napoli, C., Coretti, C., Lovero, G., Scarafile, G., Gigilio, O.D., Montagna, T. (2014). Mold contamination in the controlled hospital environment: A 3 years surveillance in southern Italy, BMC Infectious Diseases, 14: 595. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-014-0595-z
Cheesbrough, M. (2000). District Laboratory practices in tropical countries. Cambridge press UK. Pp 35-70
Chen, L., Song, Z., Zhou, X., Yang, G., and Yu a, G. (2024). Pathogenic bacteria and fungi in bioaerosols from specialized hospitals in Shandong province, East China. Environmental Pollution, 341:122922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122922
Ejrnaes, K. (2011). Bacterial characteristics of importance for recurrent urinary tract infections caused by Escherichia coli. Dan Medical Bulletin, 58(4): p. B4187.
Ekhaise, F.O., Ogboghodo, B.I.(2011). Microbiological indoor and outdoor air quality of two major hospitals in Benin City. Nigeria Sierra Leone, Journal of Biomedical Research, 3:169–74
Ekhaise, F.O., Isitor, E.E., Idehen, O., Emogbene, O.A. (2010). Airborne microflora in the atmosphere of an hospital environment of University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Nigeria, World Journal of Agricultural Science, 6(2):166-170
Enoch, D. A., Ludlam H. A. and Brown N. M. (2006). Invasive fungal infections: a review of epidemiology and management options, Journal of Medical Microbiology, 55, 809–818, https://doi.org/55/7/809
Farrington, M., Langley, J., and Smith, S. (2019). Air quality monitoring in hospital wards: A systematic review, Indoor Air, 29(1), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8358306
Khan, H.A., Baig, F.K., and Mehboob, R. (2017). Nosocomial infections: epidemiology, prevention, control and surveillance, Asian Pacific Journal of tropical biomedical, 7:478–82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2017.01.019
Leung, M., and Chan, A. H. (2018). Control and management of hospital indoor air quality. Medical Science Monitor, 24(3), SR17-SR23. PMID: 16501436
Madebo, C., Haile, A., Eticha, T., and Solomon, F. (2022). Hospital-Based Air-Borne and Surface-Borne Bacterial Pathogens and Their Antimicrobial Profiles in Wolaita Sodo, Southern Ethiopia, International Journal of Microbiology, https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5718341
Montazeri, A., Zandi, H., Teymouri, F., Soltanianzadeh, Z., Jambarsang, S., Mokhtari, M. (2020). Microbiological analysis of bacterial and fungal bioaerosols from burn hospital of Yazd (Iran), Journal of Environmental Health Science Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-020-00531-7
Mousavi, M.S., Hadei, M., Majlesi, M., Hopke, P.K., Yarahmadi, M., Emam, B. (2019). Investigating the effect of several factors on concentrations of bioaerosols in a well-ventilated hospital environment, Environmental Monitoring Assessement, 191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7559-0
Murray, P.R., Baron, E. J., Pfaller, M.A., Tenover, F.C., Yolken, R.H. (1995). Manual of clinical microbiology. 6th ed. Washington, DC, American Society of Microbiology, 282-293. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.1010153
Naruka, K., Guar, J., Chraya, R. (2017) Bioaerosols in Healthcare Settings : a Brief Review Bioaerosols in Healthcare Settings : a Brief Review, 4:59–64
Nasiri, N. and Gholipour, S., Akbari, H., Koolivand, A., Abtahi,H., Didehdar, M., Rezaei, A., and Mirzaei, M. (2021) . Contamination of obsterics and gynecology hospital air by bacterial and fungal aerosols associated with nosocomial infections, Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering,19:663–670. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-021-00637-6
Obbard, J.P., and Fang, L.S. (2003). Airborne concentrations of bacteria in a hospital environment in Singapore. Water Air Soil Pollution Springer, 144:333–41. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022973402453
Ollor O. T., Onyeagwa J., and Okerentugba P. O. (2022). Airborne microbial load in selected wards of a tertiary hospital in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Journal of Advances in Microbiology, 22(1), 23–31.
Palmer, O. G., and Onifade¸ A. K. (2019). “Microorganisms Isolated from Hospital Environmental Surfaces in Akure Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria”, Journal of Advances in Microbiology, 15 (3):1-8, https://doi.org/10.9734/jamb/2019/v15i330104
Rughooputh, S. (2001). The role of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa in Nosocomical infections, Biomedical Science Institute of Biomedical Science, 45:463–8. https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/11.suppl_b.1
Sekulska, M., Piotraszewska-Pajak, A., Szyszka, A., Nowicki, M., and Filipiak, M. (2007). Microbiological quality of indoor air in university rooms, Polish Journal of Environmental Study, 16(4): 623- 632. WOS:000248746200016
Stockwell, R. E., Ballard, E.L., O’Rourke, P., Knibbs, L.D., Morawska, L., and Bell, S. C. (2019). Indoor hospital air and the impact of ventilation on bioaerosols: a systematic review, Journal of Hospital infection, 103:175–84, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2019.06.016
Wenzel, R., Edmond, M., Pittet, D., Devaster, J., Brewek, M., Geddes, T., and Butzler, A.J.P. (1999). Kontrola zakażeń szpitalnych Vademecum, Bielsko – Biała, α- Medica Press;.
Witchley, J.N., Penumetcha, P., Abon, N.V., Woolford, C. A., Mitchell, A.P., Noble, S.M. (2019). Candida albicans Morphogenesis Programs Control the Balance between Gut Commensalism and Invasive Infection, Cell Host Microbe, 25 (3): 432–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2019.02.008
Yousefzadeh, A., Maleki, A., Athar, S.D., Darvishi, E., Ahmadi, M., Mohammadi, E., Tang, V.T., Kalmarzi, R.N., and Kashefi, H. (2022). Evaluation of bio-aerosols type, density, and modeling of dispersion in inside and outside of different wards of educational hospital. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16733-x
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Kasang Naman, Rahila Peter Ayuba, Zugwai Ezekiel, Stephen Godwin (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
