Intensive Care Units and Operating Rooms Bacterial Load and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern

Abstract

Introduction. The indoor air environment can potentially place patients at a greater risk because enclosed spaces can confine aerosols and allow them to build up to infectious levels as a result, this study intended to determine the bacterial load and antibiotic susceptibility pattern in operating theater (OR) and intensive care unit (ICU) at Hawassa University Referral Hospital. Methods. A cross sectional study was conducted to measure indoor air microbial quality from Nov 2014 to February 2015 on 120 air samples collected from selected sites in 15 rounds using purposive sampling technique by Settle Plate Method (Passive Air Sampling following 1/1/1 Schedule). Sample processing and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using standard microbiological methods. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and was inferred based on baseline values recommended by Fisher. Result. The mean bacterial load of ICU 454.2 CFU/dm2 was recorded. Likewise, at OR during active, 87.27 CFU/dm2 and 13.12/CFU/dm2 during passive were recorded. Compared to the standard set by Fisher, the ICU and OR while at passive were higher than the acceptable limit. Among the isolated six bacteria, S. aurous 36 (30%) was the predominant species in both OR and ICU were as p. auriginosa 16 (26.7%) was the second prevailing isolates at ICU. S. aureus was highly resistant to penicillin, tetracycline 86.1%, 72.2% respectively were as P. auriginosa showed low level resistance to Ciprofloxacin (22.2%), Cotrimoxazole (27.7%) and Ceftriaxon (16.7%). Conclusion. This finding indicates that resistant isolates for the commonly used drugs and high bacterial load of indoor air judges the risk factor for SSI as well more risking ICU patients. Hence adequate attention should be given to maintenance of proper hygiene in the ICU and OR environments since it is well known those patients are highly susceptible to microbial infection.