Determination of the Amount of Bioaerosols in Hospital Environments

Abstract

Background and Objective: Bioaerosols are particles of microbes, viruses and derivatives; they exist in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and can be measured with different air samplers. The purpose of this study is the determination of bacterial aerosol in the air of hospitals and the determination of contaminated areas for disinfection proceedings by hospital health care teams, by selecting the most appropriate and efficient system for air conditioning.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at Tehran Ayatolah Taleghani Hospital. 35 most sensitive locations were chosen to reflect and be representative of the entire environment of the hospital. In the first phase, the three media were simultaneously put in the sampler each sample was repeated three times in the same conditions and then medium incubated in the incubator at a temperature of 37.2 degrees Celsius. After 24 or 48 hours, the numbers of colonies were counted. In the second phase the same locations were sampled again, at this stage, only thirty minute duration was sampled.Results: All problems were located in different parts of the women’s toilets. .The colonies grow in a gram positive and gram negative specific medium and comparison with the standard indicators status of these settings was evaluated.Conclusion: Bioaerosols can cause secondary hospital infections and this problem in patients with low immunity levels would be problematic. Factors such as humidity, sampling method, temperature, population, place and sampling time have a significant role in increasing the amount of bioaerosols in the air. REFERENCES1- Pasquarella C, Pitzurra O, Savino A. The index of microbial air contamination.Journal of hospital infection. 2000;46(4):241-56.2- Pant K, Crowe C, Irving P. On the design of miniature cyclones for the collection of bioaerosols.Powder Technology. 2002;125(2):260-53- Sillanpää M, Geller MD, Phuleria HC, Sioutas C. 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