A study, published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, examined the bacterial contamination of common objects frequently touched by patients, visitors and healthcare workers in a hospital in Nepal.
Researchers collected 232 samples from various sites, including the surface of biometric attendance devices, elevator buttons, door handles and staircase railings. They isolated, identified and conducted antibiotic susceptibility testing of the isolates using standard microbiological techniques. They recovered 219 bacterial isolates from 181 samples.
The study shows bacterial contamination for the following objects:
Elevator buttons (researchers collected 48 isolates)
• S. aureus: 22.9 percent
• S. epidermidis: 20.8 percent
• Enterococcus species: 8.3 percent
• Diphtheroids: 10.4 percent
• Micrococcus species: 14.6 percent
• Escherichia coli: 6.2 percent
• Pseudomonas species: 4.1 percent
• Acinetobacter species: 4.1 percent
Biometric attendance devices (researchers collected 24 isolates)
• S. aureus: 33.3 percent
• S. epidermidis: 25 percent
• Enterococcus species: 20.8 percent
• Diphtheroids: 16.6 percent
• Micrococcus species: 20.8 percent
• Escherichia coli: 8.3 percent
• Pseudomonas species: 12.5 percent
• Acinetobacter species: 12.5 percent
Door handles (researchers collected 80 isolates)
• S. aureus: 16.2 percent
• S. epidermidis: 13.7 percent
• Enterococcus species: 10 percent
• Diphtheroids: 8.7 percent
• Micrococcus species: 10 percent
• Escherichia coli: 5 percent
• Pseudomonas species: N/A
• Acinetobacter species: 5 percent
Telephone sets (researchers collected 30 isolates)
• S. aureus: 20 percent
• S. epidermidis: 13.3 percent
• Enterococcus species: 20 percent
• Diphtheroids: 26.6 percent
• Micrococcus species: 36.6 percent
• Escherichia coli: 10 percent
• Pseudomonas species: N/A
• Acinetobacter species: 16.6 percent
Railing (researchers collected 20 isolates)
• S. aureus: 15 percent
• S. epidermidis: 5 percent
• Enterococcus species: 10 percent
• Diphtheroids: 20 percent
• Micrococcus species: 10 percent
• Escherichia coli: 5 percent
• Pseudomonas species: N/A
• Acinetobacter species: 5 percent
Water taps (researchers collected 30 isolates)
• S. aureus: 10 percent
• S. epidermidis: 6.6 percent
• Enterococcus species: 10 percent
• Diphtheroids: 23.3 percent
• Micrococcus species: 13.3 percent
• Escherichia coli: 6.6 percent
• Pseudomonas species: 6.6 percent
• Acinetobacter species: 13.3 percent
Staphylococcus aureus was the most common bacterial isolate. Of the S. aureus isolates, 29.5 percent were multidrug resistant and 31.8 percent were biofilm producers.