Magnitude, Diversity, and Antibiograms of Bacteria Isolated from Patient-Care Equipment and Inanimate Objects of Selected Wards in Arba Minch General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia.

Patient-care equipment and inanimate objects contaminated with bacteria are a persistent problem in countries like Ethiopia, and remain overlooked. This study aimed to elucidate the magnitude of contaminations, diversity, and antimicrobial-susceptibility patterns of bacterial isolates from selected wards of Arba Minch General Hospital, Ethiopia. Samples were inoculated into bacteriological media and identified by biochemical characterization, followed by antimicrobial-susceptibility tests. Of the 99 inanimate objects and items of patient-care equipment examined, 71 (71.7%) showed contamination: 26 (76.4%) from the surgical ward and 22 (66.6%) and 23 (71.8%), respectively, from the pediatric ward and neonatal intensive care unit. In the case of Gram-positive bacteria, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; 52.2%) were predominant, followed by A stringent infection-vigilance program comprising routine sampling from equipment and inanimate objects combined with antimicrobial-resistance surveillance and decontamination efforts must be instituted promptly.

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© 2021 Birru et al.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.