Description of biologigal factor in occupational environmnet of medical organizations that causes risks of hospital-acquired infections

Abstract

There is a pressing issue related to biological factors that influence medical workers’ health and cause risks of hospital-acquired infections including those occurring among patients. Given that, we applied conventional techniques to perform microbiological examinations aimed at detecting and identifying microorganisms that circulate in the air inside hospitals. Microorganisms detected in the air in areas where medical personnel performed their working tasks were identified with chromogenic nutrient media and microbiological analyzers. To fully characterize microorganisms, we performed certain tests that allowed determining how sensitive the detected strains were to common anti-bacterial preparations. As a result, we revealed that priority strains detected in the air inside medical organizations were those belonging to Staphylococcaceae and Micrococcaceae families. These microorganisms caused high risks of purulent septic infections. We also detected bacteria that belonged to normal human microflora such as Acinetobacterspp. and Streptococcusspp., as well as gram-negative bacteria, notably Stenotrophomonasmaltophilia, Ochrobacteriumspp., Pantoeaspp., and Pausterellaspp. Staphylococcusspp. and Micrococcusspp. turned out to be resistant to oxacillin and erythromycin; gram-negative bacteria, to ceftazidime and amikacin; non-fermentative bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae family, to a combination of anti-bacterial preparation. It proves there is a necessity to examine qualitative properties of biological factors existing in medical organizations. We revealed that Streptococcusspp. were strongly resistant to ampicillin, clindamycin, imipenem, and cefepime; Acinetobacterspp., strongly resistant to cephalosporin (ceftazidime, cefepime), and they were moderately resistant to monobactam (aztreonam); Stenotrophomonasmaltophilia, to ceftazidime and aztreonam, and in certain cases, to cefepime, amikacin, imipenem, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin; Ochrobacteriumspp., to cefepime, aztreonam, ciprofloxacin, amikacin, gentamicin, imipenem, and ceftazidime; Pantoeaspp. and Pausterellaspp. tended to have various resistance. All it means that the given strains circulating in the air inside medical organizations are more resistant than they are considered to be according to literature data.

Keywords

• microorganisms
• air
• biological factor
• medical workers
• resistance to antibiotics
• microbiological examinations
• antibiotics
• medical organizations
• hospital-acquired infections
• resistance of microorganisms