MICROBIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF INDOOR AIR OF TEACHING HOSPITAL WARDS A CASE OF JIMMA UNIVERSITY SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hospital environment represents a congenial situation where microorganisms andsusceptible patients are indoors together. Thus, the objective of this study is to provide fundamental datarelated to the microbial quality of indoor air of Jimma University Specialized Hospital wards, to estimatethe health hazard and to create standards for indoor air quality control.METHODS: The microbial quality of indoor air of seven wards of Jimma University SpecializedHospital was determined. Passive air sampling technique, using open Petri-dishes containing differentculture media, was employed to collect sample twice daily.RESULTS: The concentrations of bacteria and fungi aerosols in the indoor environment of the wardsranged between 2123 – 9733 CFU/m 3 . The statistical analysis showed that the concentrations of bacteriathat were measured in all studied wards were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.017),whereas the concentrations of fungi that were measured in all sampled wards were not significantlydifferent from each other (p-value=0.850). Moreover, the concentrations of bacteria that were measuredat different sampling time (morning and afternoon) were significantly different (p-value =0.001).CONCLUSION: All wards that were included in the study were heavily contaminated with bacteria andfungi. Thus, immediate interventions are needed to control those environmental factors which favor thegrowth and multiplication of microbes, and it is vital to control visitors and students in and out thewards. Moreover, it is advisable that strict measures be put in place to check the increasing microbialload in the hospital environment.