ANTIBIOTICS SUSCEPTIBILITY OF BACTERIA FOUND IN DOOR HANDLES IN THE OFFICES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed at evaluating the antibiotics susceptibility pattern of bacterial isolated from door handles from selected offices in the Department of Microbiology, University of Benin. A total of 18 swab samples were collected aseptically from adjoining doors, both the in and out part of door handle surfaces. The samples were collected using sterile swab sticks moistened with sterile normal saline, labeled properly and then transported in ice packed boxes to the laboratory for microbiological analysis. The swab samples were diluted serially up to four fold (10^-4) and 1 ml aliquot of the 10^-4 dilution was plated by pour plated method on the respective agar media and incubated at 37 ^oC for 24 hrs. After incubation, plates with colonies were counted. Bacterial isolates associated with samples were expressed as colony forming unit per ml (cfu/ml). The total heterotrophic bacteria count of the door handle samples ranged from no growth to 6.5 x 10⁵ cfu/ml (Citrobacter sp.). The bacteria isolates were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., Citrobacter sp., Enterobacter sp.and Klebsiella sp. Bacillus sp. was the most distributed bacteria, being isolated from four of the seven locations, while Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Citrobacter sp. and Enterobacter sp. were only isolated from one location each. High resistance of the isolates to the antibiotics tested was observed with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index ranging from 0.36 to 0.63 which is far above the acceptable limit of 0.2. These bacteria have been implicated in the production of toxins and the cause of several illnesses in humans, which may range from mild to severe, especially in immunocompromised individuals. Regular hand washing and use of alcohol rubs or sanitizers must be continually advocated as a fundamental cautionary measure that must be adopted to protect against the spread of diseases by these bacterial agents.