National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Door handles have especially been implicated as fomites with the propensity to transmit infectious agents dues to their crucial high touch role. Information on the role these play in the possible spread of multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens is however limited. This study presents information on the possible role door handles in a tertiary institution in Rivers State, Nigeria may play as reservoirs of multidrug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. A hundred door handles were sampled using the swab and rinse method involving sterile swab sticks, and samples processed by culturing of Mannitol Salt Agar. Presumptive characteristic colonies were then purified, their identities confirmed and antibiotic susceptibility determined using standard microbiological tests. Results revealed a 35% occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus on the sampled door handles, which showed varying levels of resistance to test antibiotics. A 100% resistance was noted against 5 different antibiotics and the lowest resistant (2.9%) noted against of loxacin. Only 5 antibiograms were represented within the isolates, with AUG-CAZ-CRX-CXC-ERY exhibited by 60% (21/35) of isolates. A 100% of isolates were resistant to 3 and more drug classes indicating a 100% occurrence of multidrug resistance within the S. aureus isolates detected. This study reveals a high association of multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus with non-toilet door handles. This is of major public health interest as it indicates a potential risk these high touch surfaces could play as reservoirs for the spread of multidrug resistance.
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