Assessment of Parasites and Bacterial Contamination of Office Door Handles in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State

Pauline Ukamaka Umeanaeto,Chidiogo Chidimma Ilo,Miracle Chisom Unam,Stella Chinyere Afulukwe,Chukwudinma Chigozie Okoli,Ugochukwu Chukwuma Okafor,Nnamdi Enoch Nwakoby

doi:10.11648/j.ajbls.20210902.13

Pauline Ukamaka Umeanaeto, Chidiogo Chidimma Ilo + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbls.20210902.13

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Abstract

Microorganisms are present on all surfaces, to which they were carried by many direct and indirect methods of transmission. Bacteria and Parasites contaminating office door handles in Nnamdi Azikiwe University were assessed between June and November, 2019. The buildings and the door handles were randomly selected. Sterile swabs moistened in sterile normal saline were used to swab the door handles in a tri-directional manner. The swabs were cultured and subcultured onto nutrient, MacConkey and Salmonella-Shigella agar plates for bacterial growth. The specimens were then examined for parasites using Zinc Sulphate floatation and formol-ether sedimentation techniques. Of the 432 door handles examined, 136 (30.8%) were contaminated. The highest number of contaminated doors were found in Medical Centre 41 (30.1%) and the least in Faculty of Social Sciences Complex 10 (7.4%). E. histolytica 52 (38.2%) was the highest parasite encountered while E. vermicularis 2 (1.5%) was the least. The proportion of infected doors as well as the distribution of different species parasites in the door handles of different complexes examined was significant (P<0.05). Of 432 office door handles examined, 263 (60.9%) yielded bacterial growth. Female hostel 72 (27.4%) had more bacterial contamination while Faculty of Social Sciences 25 (9.5%) had the least. Staphylococcus spp 54 (20.5%) was the highest bacteria isolated, followed by Escherichia 53 (20.2%) while Klebsiella 53 (20.2%) was the least. The distribution of different species of bacteria in the door handles in different complexes was significant (P<0.05). Infectious diseases from microbial contaminated door handles are a potential threat to public health and safety therefore certain measures should be taken such as aggressive and frequent cleaning methods and good hand washing to reduce the incidence of bacterial and parasite transmission and contamination.

Highlights

Microorganisms are widespread in nature constituting a major part of every ecosystem
Human societies have always been challenged by American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences 2021; 9(2): 120-127 infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, virus, helminth and protozoan parasites with pathogenic parasites producing cysts, oocysts and ova on contact surfaces [2]
A total of 6 buildings were randomly selected for the study namely: Faculty of Art (FA) complex, Faculty of Physical Science (FPS) complex, Faculty of Social Science (FSS) complex, Female hostel (FH) complex, Administrative Block (AB) and the Medical Centre (MC)

Summary

Introduction

Microorganisms are widespread in nature constituting a major part of every ecosystem. Fungi, parasites and viruses contaminate the body, houses, work places and whole environment They are beneficial to life but some are dangerous to health, causing different diseases [1]. Human societies have always been challenged by American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences 2021; 9(2): 120-127 infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, virus, helminth and protozoan parasites with pathogenic parasites producing cysts, oocysts and ova on contact surfaces [2]. These infectious microorganisms can be found in any environment including soil, air, water and food. It often involves secondary route of exposure such as oral or direct contact for pathogen to enter the host, both enteric and respiratory pathogens [8]

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