Existence of bacterial contamination on inanimate surfaces and equipment in sub-district health-promoting hospitals in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Korakot Chansareewittaya; Sirikarnnapa Krajangcharoensakul

Authors

Korakot Chansareewittaya Public Health Major, School of Health Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand
Sirikarnnapa Krajangcharoensakul Scientific and Technological Instruments Center, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand

Keywords:

bacterial contamination, sub-district health-promoting hospitals, inanimate surfaces and equipment

Abstract

Hospital environments may serve as habitats for various microorganisms. Here, we show, for the first time, the existence of bacterial contamination on inanimate surfaces and equipment of 12 select sub-district health-promoting hospitals (HPHs) in six districts of Chiang Rai, Thailand. The swabbing technique was used to collect samples from 10 tested points (six from nursing rooms and four from toilets) of different sampling locations. The collected swabbed samples were propagated, isolated, and identified based on their biochemical properties. All 120 samples (100%) were found to be contaminated with 341 isolated bacterial strains, representing a predominance of coagulase-negative staphylococci (35.48%) and Bacillus sp. (19.06%). Staphylococcus aureus and viridans streptococci accounted for 1.47% and 1.17% of all isolate bacteria, respectively. The majority of gram-negative bacteria belonged to Enterobacteriaceae, including Escherichia coli (0.88%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (0.29%), and others (9.09%). Less strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found (0.29%). The toilet’s hand-washing sinks, followed by hospital personnel’s computers and keyboards, were identified as surfaces with the largest bacterial colonization. Our results demonstrate promising evidence of environmental contaminants in HPHs. Although they were not considered pathogenic strains, this contamination should be a concern. Appropriate disinfection procedures should be encouraged to reduce the transmission of “unconsidered” bacterial contaminants among HPHs and the community population.

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