Bacteriological Assessment of Indoor Air Quality of Three Private Hospitals in Dutse Urban, Jigawa State Nigeria
Adeleye AO, Cheku AA, Shiaka PG and Yerima MB
Published on: 2024-02-24
Abstract
The quality of the air in any environment determines the health status of its inhabitants. This study aimed at assessing the bacteriological quality of indoor air in three private hospitals: Peace Hospital, Dr. Bashir's Hospital, and Alkhari Hospital in Dutse, Nigeria. The settle plate method was employed to collect eighty-one (81) air samples from the hospitals. Results indicate that four (4) bacteria—Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Alcaligenes spp., and Bacillus spp.—were isolated across all the air sampling points. In Dr. Bashir's hospital, when the health workers were at work, the highest bacterial load recorded was 100000 CFU/m3, while the lowest bacterial load estimated when the health workers were not at work was 35000 CFU/m3. In Alkhari hospital, when there was no work ongoing in the wards, there were no bacterial loads detected, whereas the bacterial load recorded when there were activities going on in the wards ranged between 30000 and 150000 CFU/m3. However, in Alkhari Hospital, the highest bacterial load obtained during hospital activities in the afternoon was 70000 CFU/m3, while the lowest bacterial load recorded in the absence of health workers' activities in the afternoon was 35000 CFU/m3. It can be observed that there was no significant (p < 0.05) difference in the effect of hospitals on the bacterial loads detected. However, the bacteria isolated in this study have been established as causative agents of several bacterial infections that can be potentially picked up by the workers, patients, and patients' relatives that come into contact with the indoor air of the hospitals. Based on the detection of bacterial contaminants in the indoor air of the hospitals, it is therefore recommended that proper control measures be taken to prevent the environmental factors that facilitate the growth and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria in the workplace.