Microbiological assessment of indoor air of a teaching hospital in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the quality of indoor air of different wards and units of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, to ascertain their contribution to infection rate in the hospital. METHODS: The microbial quality of indoor air of nine wards/units of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria was conducted. Sedimentation technique using open Petri-dishes containing different culture media was employed and samplings were done twice daily, one in the morning shortly after cleaning and before influx of people/patients into the wards/units and the other in the evening when a lot of activities would have taken place in these wards. Isolates were identified according to standard methods. RESULTS: Results showed that there was a statistically significant difference (χ(2) = 6.016 7) in the bacteria population of the different sampling time whereas it was not so for fungi population (χ(2) = 0.285 7). Male medical ward (MMW) and male surgical general (MSG) recorded the highest bacterial and fungal growth while the operating theatre (OT) was almost free of microbial burden. The bacteria isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella sp., Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pyogenes and Serratia marscences while the fungi isolates included Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Candida albicans and Alternaria sp. Staphylococcus aureus was the predominantly isolated bacterium while Penicillium sp. was the most isolated fungus. CONCLUSIONS: Though most of the microbial isolates were potential and or opportunistic pathogens, there was no correlation between the isolates in this study and the surveillance report of nosocomial infection during the period of study, hence the contribution of the indoor air cannot be established. From the reduction noticed in the morning samples, stringent measures such as proper disinfection and regular cleaning, restriction of patient relatives' movement in and out of the wards/units need to be enforced so as to improve the quality of indoor air of our hospital wards/units.

Seroprevalence of HIV among blood donors, antenatal women and other patients in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

HIV/AIDS continues to remain a nightmare in the developing nations of the world especially in Nigeria, where about 2.9 million people are living with this problem. This study aimed at determining the sero-prevalence of HIV among both patients and blood donors at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria. Samples were collected between January 1st, 2005 and December, 31st 2006 and were screened using two rapid test kits, with two different principles (enzymatic and agglutination). Samples positive to the two methods were taken as truly sero-positive. The seropositive rate among blood donors, antenatal women, in- and out patients were, 3.2 percent, 6.9 percent and 17.5 percent respectively. There were five cases of positivity to both HIV I and II. Antenatal women between the ages of 26-35 were found responsible for 5.3 percent of the total positivity among antenatal women. Though, there is high prevalence rate among in- and out-patients, many of these were screened based on manifestation of clinical symptoms. However, more is to be done in the area of prevention of this disease, since no cure is yet found.

Seroprevalence of HIV among blood donors, antenatal women and other patients in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria.

HIV/AIDS continues to remain a nightmare in the developing nations of the world especially in Nigeria, where about 2.9 million people are living with this problem. This study aimed at determining the sero-prevalence of HIV among both patients and blood donors at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria. Samples were collected between January 1st, 2005 and December, 31st 2006 and were screened using two rapid test kits, with two different principles (enzymatic and agglutination). Samples positive to the two methods were taken as truly sero-positive. The seropositive rate among blood donors, antenatal women, in- and out patients were, 3.2%, 6.9% and 17.5% respectively. There were five cases of positivity to both HIV I and II. Antenatal women between the ages of 26-35 were found responsible for 5.3% of the total positivity among antenatal women. Though, there is high prevalence rate among in- and out-patients, many of these were screened based on manifestation of clinical symptoms. However, more is to be done in the area of prevention of this disease, since no cure is yet found.

Significant asymptomatic bacteriuria among Nigerian type 2 diabetics.

Significant asymptomatic bacteriuria is a risk factor for symptomatic urinary infection and septicemia among predisposed individuals such as diabetics. We investigated the pattern of asymptomatic bacteriuria among our type 2 diabetics with a view to documenting the prevalence, type of organisms responsible and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern. One hundred and twenty-four type 2 Nigerian diabetics (55 males and 69 females) submitted midstream urine specimens for culture. Thirty-three patients had significant bacteriuria (9 males and 24 females), showing the frequency of occurrence of asymptomatic bacteriuria to be 26.6%. The most common organism isolated was Klebsiella pneumonia at 42.4%. Gram-negative bacilli made up about 23 (69.7%) of the isolates. Isolates were poorly sensitive to the readily available antibiotics (ampicillin, tetracycline and cotrimoxazole), but a large number of the organisms isolated were sensitive to nitrofurantoin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin. Sensitivity to erythromycin, nalidixic acid and cefuroxime was moderate. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is, thus, more prevalent among the Nigerian diabetic population than in the non-diabetics. A changing pattern of disease is observed with Klebsiella sp. now accounting for the majority of asymptomatic bacteriuria among diabetics. The organisms are not sensitive to the commonly available antibacterial agents.

Bacteraemia--a Sagamu perception.

In this study laboratory records of all positive blood cultures at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital between January 1993 and December 1998 were reviewed and analyzed. A total of 2057 samples of blood cultures were received in the laboratory during the period of study. 495 (24.1%) samples yielded significant growth of microorganisms. 87 (17.6%) of the positive cultures were from the out patients. Most of the positive blood cultures (99.6%) were mono-microbial. A total of 497 isolates were obtained. The predominant organisms isolated were Klebsiella species (30.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (30.8%), atypical coliforms (11.9%) and Pseudomonas species (7.5%). There were more gram-negative organisms 309 (62.2%) than gram-positive organisms 188 (37.8%). Staphylococcus aureus (30.8%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (5.0%) were the predominant gram-positive organisms isolated. A large number (>50%) of the organisms isolated were resistant to Ampicillin and Gentamicin but were sensitive to third generation cephalosporins and quinolones. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the need for all hospitals to monitor the microorganisms causing septicemia so that the clinicians can be alerted to a suitable strategy for blind therapy.