BACTERIAL ANALYSIS FOR GRAM-NEGATIVE RODS ON THE PALM/ HANDS OF MICROBIOLOGY STUDENTS, UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

The carriage of bacteria especially Gram-negative rods is common amongst persons with poor toilet habits. This study was conducted to evaluate The results of the bacterial presence on the hands of MCB students is displayed in this chapter and Figure 1 revealed that bacterial count (Log₁₀ cfu/cm²) on the right and left hand of female MCB students were found to be 0.83±0.54 and 0.82±0.49 respectively. Male MCB students have counts in their respective right and left hands to be 0.61±0.58 and 0.67±0.45. It was revealed that bacterial counts on the hands of female students were found to be higher than those of male’s students on the average. The comparative evaluation of bacterial load of the right and left hands of MCB students showed that there were no significant differences (p>0.05) between bacterial counts of the left and the right hands for both sexes. The identified bacterial isolates include Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens. E. coli (50%) had the highest percentage frequency of occurrence while S. marcescens (5%) had the least percentage of occurrence. All bacterial isolates were found on both males and female students recruited in the study. The bacterial isolates were found to be susceptible to certain antibiotics such as ofloxacin, augmentin, cefuroxime and ciprofloxacin. Although resistance were found to a few antibiotics such as ampicillin and tetracycline.