Microbial contamination of operating theatres and intensive care units at a surgical specialty hospital in Erbil City

Abstract

Background: Microbial contamination of operating theater (OT) and intensive care unit (ICU) is the most frequent cause of nosocomial infections in patients. Objectives: this study aims to evaluate the prevalence level and variety of microbial contamination in these high-risk areas in the surgical specialty hospital in Erbil city. Materials and Methods: Three sampling procedures were employed in this study, which includes swabbing, open plate, and both microbiological and biochemical investigation of water supply in these high-risk areas. Standard microbiological techniques were used for microbiological culture and identification of microbial pathogens. Results: 48.3% yielded positive microbial growth. The most common isolates were Gram-positive bacteria (83.1%), of which Staphylococcus aureus accounted for 78.6% of bacterial pathogens isolated, followed by Streptococci (33.3%) and Enterococci (28.6%). Whereas, lower rate of Gram-negative bacterial contamination (16.9%) was observed, including Escherichia coli (19%) and each of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus (4.8%). Air contamination with Aspergillus (19%) and Molds (14.3%) was observed, respectively. The highest rate of microbial contamination was observed in OT rooms (35.6%) where 50% of environmental hygiene practice was detected using infection control practice audit tool. In addition, 21.4% of positive cultures were identified in ICU rooms where only 9% of environmental hygiene was practiced. Conclusions: These findings emphasize the important role of infection control system to prevent the cross-transmission of nosocomial pathogens to cause contamination and infection in the critically ill patients.