Bacterial reservoirs in a health care environment: case of the Douala general Hospital, Cameroon

ABSTRACT

Background:Health care acquired infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitals. There is very little documentation of this important problem in our resource limited setting. The aim of our study was to identify bacterial reservoirs and microorganisms with the potential of nosocomial infections in our health care environment Methods:Bacteriological samples from the air; surfaces; equipment; personnel and patients from six units of the Douala General Hospital; Cameroon were collected for culture according to standardised collection; culture and germs identification techniques. of all collected samples were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. These included 83.3 of air samples and 100; 54.1and 48.7of specimens respectively. The same bacteria found on the hands of nursing personnel were same as on both surfaces and equipment. The intensive care and neonatal units were the most contaminated with 100 positive cultures. The sterilization unit was bacteria free