| International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences |
| ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 2 Number 6 (2013) pp. 246-253 |
| Nasal floral changes among medical students on exposure to formaldehyde |
| A.R.Susethira1 , R.S.Vigneshwari1 , M.Krishnaveni1 , A.Uma1 S.Thirumalaikolundusubbramaniam1 , T. Jeyaseelan Senthinath1 and P.Revathi3 |
| 1Department of Microbiology, Chennai Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Irungalur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India Tamil Nadu, India 2Department of Medicine, Chennai Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Irungalur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India 3Department of Pharmacology, Chennai Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Irungalur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author e-mail: arsusethira@gmail.com |
| A B S T R A C T |
| Formaldehyde is a colourless inflammable gas used as one of the commonest chemical in the anatomy dissection hall for the preservation of the cadaver. This study was carried to evaluate changes in the nasal flora following the exposure of formaldehyde among medical students at Chennai Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Trichy. In this study, a total of 45 students and ten healthy controls who were not exposed to formaldehyde were enrolled. Organisms such as Klebsiella spp. (48.88%), CoNS (44.21%), Pseudomonas spp. (40%), Micrococcus (16.67%), Diphtheroids (14.78%), Staphylococcus aureus (14.31%), Providencia (8.88%), were isolated in the nasal flora of the medical students. There is no significant change in the nasal flora was observed before and after exposure to formaldehyde while the load of the organism were found to be reduced after exposure to formaldehyde. Further studies are needed to implement the standard protocol to be adopted for handling the formalin exposure procedures. |
| Keywords |
| Formaldehyde; Nasal flora; Anatomy dissection theatre; Bacterial load. |