Abstract
Hospital ward environments contain various types of microorganisms, in which fungal agents are one of the main contaminants that may cause hospital-acquired infections. Regarding this, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of nanosilver paint on reducing fungal contaminants of indoor air in an educational, research, and treatment center. Two rooms in the hematology ward were selected. One room was painted using usual paint (control room) and the other room was painted with paint containing nanosilver particles (experimental room). One hundred and twelve samples were collected using active (Anderson BioSampler) and passive (settle plate or open plate) air sampling techniques. The samples were incubated for 3–7 days at 35°C, and the positive fungal cultures were examined according to morphological and microscopic characteristics. Following active sampling, the mean and standard deviation of the number of colony-forming units (CFU/m3) of fungi colonies in the experimental and control rooms were 29.21 ± 17.99 and 22.50 ± 10.02 before intervention and 13.79 ± 6.20 and 31.07 ± 21.1 after intervention, respectively. Following passive sampling, the number of CFU/plate in the experimental and control rooms was 6 and 0 before and 1and 1 after intervention, respectively. The use of the nanosilver paint was effective in reducing air fungal contamination. Moreover, the active sampling method was more sensitive to measuring the concentration changes for fungal bioaerosols.
Highlights
Transmission of microbial pathogens through air is considered as an important way in indoor and outdoor environments [1]
Opportunistic fungal infections are usually reported in individuals with immune deficiency, such as hospitalized patients [7]. erefore, fungal bioaerosols should be reduced in hospitals because of the high-risk groups; those may be sensitive or vulnerable to these dangerous biological agents [5]. e use of nanoparticles, including silver nanoparticles, is one of the ways that has been considered as a medical disinfectant in recent years [9]. e antifungal properties of silver nanoparticles have been reported in many studies by various researchers [10, 11]
Fungal agents are one of the most common microorganisms in hospital indoor environments, which can lead to nosocomial infections. e use of nanoparticles could be one of the ways that has been considered as a medical disinfectant in recent years [9]
Summary
Transmission of microbial pathogens through air is considered as an important way in indoor and outdoor environments [1]. High concentrations of microorganisms in air may be considered as an environmental risk, causing health problems in the indoor environments [2]. Erefore, fungal bioaerosols should be reduced in hospitals because of the high-risk groups; those may be sensitive or vulnerable to these dangerous biological agents [5]. Lee et al concluded that silver nanoparticles have successful fungicidal activity against dermatophytes and pathogenic fungi and could be used as potential disinfectants against human fungal diseases [12]. Some nanoparticles clearly reduce the microbial load on various environments in laboratory settings, they have rarely been evaluated in welldesigned clinical studies for their effectiveness in hospital environments
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