Mold contamination in a controlled hospital environment: a 3-year surveillance in southern Italy

BMC Infectious Diseases

Maria Teresa Montagna¹  Osvalda De Giglio¹  Giancarlo Scarafile¹  Grazia Lovero¹  Caterina Coretti¹  Christian Napoli¹  Giuseppina Caggiano¹ 

[1] Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Hygiene Section, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, Bari, Italy

关键词: Environment;    Surfaces;    Air;    Hospital;    Fungi;    Contamination;   

Others  :  1122033
DOI  :  10.1186/s12879-014-0595-z

 received in 2014-02-25, accepted in 2014-10-29,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Environmental monitoring of airborne filamentous fungi is necessary to reduce fungal concentrations in operating theaters and in controlled environments, and to prevent infections. The present study reports results of a surveillance of filamentous fungi carried out on samples from air and surfaces in operating theaters and controlled environments in an Italian university hospital.

Methods

Sampling was performed between January 2010 and December 2012 in 32 operating theaters and five departments with high-risk patients. Indoor air specimens were sampled using a microbiological air sampler; Rodac contact plates were used for surface sampling. Fungal isolates were identified at the level of genera and species.

Results

Sixty-one samples (61/465; 13.1%) were positive for molds, with 18 from controlled environments (18/81; 22.2%) and 43 (43/384; 11.2%) from operating theaters. The highest air fungal load (AFL, colony-forming units per cubic meter [CFU/m³]) was recorded in the ophthalmology operating theater, while the pediatric onco-hematology ward had the highest AFL among the wards (47 CFU/m³). The most common fungi identified from culture of air specimens were Aspergillus spp. (91.8%), Penicillium spp., (6%) and Paecilomyces spp. (1.5%). During the study period, a statistically significant increase in CFU over time was recorded in air-controlled environments (p = 0.043), while the increase in AFL in operating theaters was not statistically significant (p = 0.145). Molds were found in 29.1% of samples obtained from surfaces. Aspergillus fumigatus was the most commonly isolated (68.5%).

Conclusions

Our findings will form the basis for action aimed at improving the air and surface quality of these special wards. The lack of any genetic analysis prevented any correlation of fungal environmental contamination with onset of fungal infection, an analysis that will be undertaken in a prospective study in patients admitted to the same hospital.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Caggiano et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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