Abstract
Healthcare units consist of numerous people circulating daily, such as workers, patients, and companions, and these people are vehicles for the transmission of microorganisms, such as bacteria. Bacteria species may have different allergenic, pathogenic, infectious, or toxic properties that can affect humans. Hospital settings foment the proliferation of bacteria due to characteristics present in the indoor hospital environment. This review article aims to identify the potential health effects caused by bacterial contamination in the context of healthcare units, both in patients and in workers. A search was carried out for articles published in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, between 1 January 2000 and 31 October 2021, using the descriptor hospital exposure assessment bacteria. This bibliographic research found a total of 13 articles. Bacteria transmission occurs mainly due to the contact between healthcare workers and patients or through the handling of/contact with contaminated instruments or surfaces. The most common bacterial contaminants are Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus, and the principal health effects of these contaminants are hospital-acquired infections and infections in immunocompromised people. A tight control of the disinfection methods is thus required, and its frequency must be increased to remove the microbial contamination of wards, surfaces and equipment. A better understanding of seasonal variations is important to prevent peaks of contamination.
Highlights
Infections associated with healthcare units are a major public health problem that concerns patients, the public, and politicians, since they impact society’s development [1]
This review is centered on 13 articles about the context of exposure assessment bacteria in hospital and healthcare units
Numerous studies presented divergent points of view on how bacterial contamination can be observed in different locations within hospital facilities, how seasonal variations affect the concentration, and even how data regarding the most prevalent genera that can be found in healthcare environments and staff due to occupational activities
Summary
Infections associated with healthcare units are a major public health problem that concerns patients, the public, and politicians, since they impact society’s development [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), for every 100 hospitalized patients at any given time, 7 in developed countries and 10 in developing countries will acquire at least one healthcare-associated infection [2] Another survey indicated that 1 in 17 hospitalized patients who received healthcare-associated infections (while being treated for other health issues) died as a result [5]. Healthcare units such as hospitals, maternity centers, blood banks, clinics, medical offices, urgent care centers, or healthcare centers consist of countless people circulating daily, such as workers, patients and their companions, the healthy and the sick. These people are vehicles for transmitting microorganisms, such as bacteria, that can cause infections that are transmitted very in this setting due to its population of sick or immunocompromised people [6]
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