ABSTRACT
Introduction: The study was conducted to enumerate, identify the total airborne
bacterial isolates from rooms in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) male hostel,
University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State and determine the frequency of occurrence as well
as antibiotic sensitivity profiles of these bacterial isolates.
Materials and Methods: Samples were collected in duplicates and
a total of 36 airborne samples were collected from six rooms. Using sedimentation technique,
open Petri-dishes containing nutrient agar fortified with nystatin to inhibit fungal growth and
enhance bacterial proliferation was applied to enumerate and isolate airborne bacterial
isolates. Standard cultural, morphological and biochemical procedures were used to
characterize the isolates. Antibiotics susceptibility profiles were determined using standard
disk diffusion methods.
Results: The total plate count for bacterial enumeration obtained from the sampling sites
ranged from 8.1 x 10-3 to 1.0 x 10-3 and expressed in colony forming units (cfu). Result of
cultural, biochemical and morphological test showed Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus
subtilis according to Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology. The antibiotics resistant
pattern of Staphylococcus aureus expressed resistance to Amoxicillin Clavulanate (AUG),
Cefotaxime (CTX), Imipenem/Cilastatin (IMP), Ofloxacin (OFX), Nalidixic Acid (NA),
Nitrofurantoin (NF), Nitrofurantoin (NF), Cefuroxime (CXM), Ceftriaxone Sulbactarm
(CRO), Gentamycin (GN), Cefuroxime (CXM), Imipenem/Cilastatin (IMP), Levofloxacin
(LBC), Cefexime (ZEM), Ampiclox (ACX) which was a higher number of antibiotics and
sensitive on Ofloxacin (OFX), Azithromycin (AZN), Gentamycin (GN) and Erythromycin
(ERY). Bacillus subtilis showed resistance to Amoxicillin Clavulanate (AUG), Cefotaxime
(CTX), Imipenem/Cilastatin (IMP), Ofloxacin (OFX), Gentamycin (GN), Nalidixic Acid
(NA), Nitrofurantoin (NF), Nitrofurantoin (NF), Cefuroxime (CXM), Ceftriaxone Sulbactarm
