Isolation, Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Pseudomonas spp. Isolated from Hospital Environment in Tonekabon, North of Iran

Abstract

A wide variety of opportunistic pathogens has been detected in hospital surfaces. Medical center surfaces can serve as reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria. Among this pathogens, Pseudomonas species are one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections, frequently found in hospital environments. In this research, we studied the presence of Pseudomonas spp. in a hospital wards surfaces. 460 samples from a hospital sections were collected in the city of Tonekabon, in North of Iran, between December 2012 and June 2013. The identification of strains was performed by using biochemical tests and API20NE (Biomerieux). Finally, the identification of some strains was verified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In general, 61 strains of Pseudomonas were isolated from all the sources. The highest isolation rate of Pseudomonas spp. was recorded in Surgery section (19/71%), followed by ICU (19/23%), Labor (17/46%), CCU (14/10%), Pediatric (11/76%), Internal (9/87%) and while lowest isolation was recorded in Dialysis section (1/56%). out of 61 isolates 52 (85/25%) were belonged to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 6 (9/83%) to Pseudomonas stutzeri, 2 (3/28%) to Pseudomonas putidaand 1 (1/64%) to Pseudomonas fluorescens. In addition, all pseudomonas species isolates were resistant to penicillin, cephalexin and vancomycin, while they showed different levels of susceptibility to other antibiotics. Environments in hospital are vehicle of Pseudomonas spp. and therefore the patients and people working in this area must attention to their personal hygiene in order to avoid Pseudomonas infection.