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ABSTRACT
Home textiles serve both functional and aesthetic purposes and curtain is one of such textiles. Curtains have been used to provide privacy, control sunlight and protect against insects and dust since ancient times. This study was carried out to investigate the bacteriological quality of curtain samples from student hostels and the bacterial load. The bacteriological evaluation of curtains among students staying off campus in Ekosodin was evaluated in this study. A standard questionnaire was designed to obtain socio-demographic information from respondents in Ekosodin. The bacteriological evaluation of the curtains was conducted using the pour plate method. Cultural, morphological and biochemical tests were used for identification of the bacteria. Phenotypic virulence properties such as hemolysin, lipase and DNase production were evaluated and the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was employed for antibacterial sensitivity testing. The results revealed that 92.6% of respondents who filled out the questionnaire were students of the University of Benin while 62.1% out of the 92.6% of the respondents were residents off campus, with 20% of the respondents residing in the Ekosodin community. 63.2% of the respondents were females, while 90.1% refused to disclose their undergraduate degree levels. Most of the rooms examined had 2 – 3 occupants (43.2%). Based on the number of persons occupying the room, the heterotrophic bacterial counts of curtains ranged from log10 2.42±0.12 cfu/cm2 (for just one person) to log10 2.98±0.09 cfu/cm2 .
