Microbial Analysis of Air in a Public Hospital in the City of Fez, Morocco

H. Bekkari; N. Benchemsi; H. Touijer; S. Berrada; S. Maniar; M. Ettayebi; Lalami A. El Ouali

H. Bekkari Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.
N. Benchemsi Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.
H. Touijer Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.
S. Berrada Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.
S. Maniar Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.
M. Ettayebi Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.
Lalami A. El Ouali Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Biotechnology, PO Box 1796, 30003 Fez-Atlas, Morocco.

Keywords: Hospital, Air Environment, Microbiological analysis, Nosocomial Infections, Fez, Morocco.

Abstract

The hospital environment generally comprises, water, air, and surfaces... which are often contaminated with micro-organisms of human and environmental origins. These germs constitute microbial reservoirs that may present a risk of infection for hospitalized patients. In this light we studied the microbiological quality of the air in a public hospital in the city of Fez, in order to prevent nosocomial infections. A prospective study over a period of 4 months was conducted at eight services. The samples were prepared with the sedimentation technique, by exposing the Petri dishes containing nutrient agar, in an area of 1 m2 for 15 minutes. The dishes were incubated at 37 ± 1 °C for 48 h. Isolates were identified by conventional biochemical gallery and bioMériaux API gallery. A total of 32 samples were analyzed. Microbial identification showed the presence of 14 bacterial types, with the dominance of coagulase negative Staphylococcus (48%), and followed by Bacillus sp (14%), Staphylococcus aureus and Aeromonas salmonicida (8%) each, Gram negative cocci (7%) and Pseudomonas vesicularis (5%). Other bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Pseudomonas putrificiens, Streptococcus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Serratia liquificiens, putrificiens Serratia, Serratia rubidaea and Stenotromonas maltophila were isolated with low proportions. All studied hospital blocks showed a diverse microbial load: trauma (20%), surgery (17%), intensive care (16%), central operating room (14%), neonatology (13%), kitchen (10 %), cardiovascular gastrology (7%) and emergency (4%). These results demonstrated the need to implement of systematic measures of hospital surveillance a comprehensive policy for the prevention of nosocomial infections including a systematic air treatment protocol.