Abstract
Fungi are specifically dangerous as they exhibit a significant tolerance to environmental changes and can proliferate under low relative humidity, unlike bacteria. They produce spores that are easily dispersed by air hence they are ubiquitous. The study aimed at identifying the fungal isolates present in the bathrooms located on the three floors of the hostel, University of Benin, Benin City. Samples were collected from the walls of the bathrooms using sterile swab sticks and were identified using standard microbiological techniques. The isolated fungi were Aspergillus nidulans, A. niger, A. tamarii, A. flavus, Candida albicans, Penicillium cyclopium, P. oxalicum, Mucor mucedo, Trichophyton rubrum and Rhodotorula species. From the ground floor bathrooms, Candida albicans (23.40%) were most frequently isolated, Aspergillus nidulans (55.56%) were mostly isolated from the first floor and Mucor mucedo (56.00%) were the most isolated from the second floor. After washing the bathrooms, Mucor mucedo was scarcely isolated from the walls of the bathrooms. The findings were processed statistically using the two-tailed test to detect the significant difference between the groups of means for the fungal counts from each floor. A significant difference (p<0.05) in the fungi isolated before and after washing was found. Isolated fungi from this study are known to be of public health importance hence, strict hygiene practices should be observed by those using the bathrooms.
Highlights
Fungi are eukaryotic heterotrophs, that extensively include species of moulds, yeasts and mushrooms
Isolated fungi from this study are known to be of public health importance strict hygiene practices should be observed by those using the bathrooms
There was a significant reduction of the fungal loads on the first week (p = 0.049), second week (p = 0.030) and third week (p = 0.048) in the hostel, after cleaning of the bathrooms
Summary
That extensively include species of moulds, yeasts and mushrooms They could be single celled (yeasts) or multicellular (moulds) and may be classified as biotrophs, saprotrophs or necrotrophs which reproduce and disperse by spore formation (Carris et al, 2012; Bueno and Silva, 2014). Moulds are very adaptable and can grow even on damp inorganic materials such as glass, metal, concrete or painted surfaces if a microscopic layer of organic nutrients is available. Such nutrients can be found on household dust and soil particles (Robins and Morell, 2007). Fungal colonization of buildings is especially common in low-income communities in developing countries, where buildings are situated indiscriminately without consideration for environmental sanitation, urban planning and building regulations (Ahiamba et al, 2008; Ayanbimpe et al, 2010)
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