BACTERIOLOGICAL AIR QUALITY OF STUDENT RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS

ABSTRACT

Indoor air quality (IQA) is becoming an increasingly important issue for occupational and public health. The quality of indoor air is one of the most significant factors affecting the health and well-being of people who inhale at least 10m of the air every day, and spend between 80- 95% of their lives indoors. This study aimed to determine the bacteriological quality of air in student residential quarters. The specific objectives of this study were to enumerate, isolate and identify the bacteria isolates, determine the antibacterial susceptibility pattern of the bacteria isolate, determine multiple antibiotic resistant index (MARI), determine the public health significance of the isolate and to determine the frequency of occurrence of the bacterial isolates. Samples were collected from three different student houses/residential quarters in Off-campus Osasogie, Oba-Ewuare Street, Benin City. Nutrient agar was the medium used for the isolation of airborne bacteria isolates. The plates were transported and incubated at 37 oC for 24h. Thereafter the colonies were sub-cultured into a fresh medium to obtain a fresh isolates. Biochemical test like Catalase, Urease, Indole, Oxidase and Citrate utilization test were done. Further enumeration such as Gram staining and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test were done. After inoculation Proteus sp., Bacillus cereus., Micrococcus sp., Citrobacter sp. and Staphylococus sp. were identified. The result obtained provided useful insights into the existing state of air in relation to relevant international standards. The airborne bacteria in student residential quarters was evaluated, the result obtained showed a bacterial population ranging from 1.275x103 to 2.060x103 cfu/m3 for first sampling week and 1.484 x103 to 1.624x103 cfu/m3 for second sampling week and 2.986 x103 to 4.330x103 cfu/m3 for third sampling week . These isolates could be associated to several infections such as gastro-intestinal tract, respiratory tract, urinary tract and skin disorders. The concentration of bacteria measured in all locations were significantly different to each other. These can be mainly explained by the variation of density of occupant during sampling time as well as the variation of ventilation conditions. It is concluded that the assessment of indoor air quality via mean bacterial count in student residential quarters ranging from 4.72x103 - 4.889 x103 cfu/m3 is due to factors such as occupant density, ventilation conditions and sampling duration influence bacterial concentrations indoors.