Frequancy of different species of cockroaches in tertiary care hospital and their role in transmission of bacterial pathogens

To identify different species of cockroaches in tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi and evaluate their role in the transmission of bacterial pathogens as carrier agents. Three species of cockroaches namely Periplaneta americana [American cockroach], Blatta orientalis [Oriental cockroach] and Blattella germanica [German cockroach] were identified. They were collected from nine sites of the hospital viz. Medical ward- 16, Medical ward-2, Medical ward- 10. Children medical ward, Gynecology and Obstetrics ward, Children surgical ward, Female surgical ward, Skin ward and Cook house. A total of 100 cockroaches were collected from various sites of a tertiary care Hospital from Oct-Dec 2004. American cockroaches were the most common in all the sites accounting for 73% followed by Oriental cockroaches 18% and German cockroaches 9%. Thirteen types of bacteria were isolated which included Enterococcus spp 13.4%, Proteus spp 11.5%, Citrobacter spp 11.3%, Klebsiella pneumoniae 12.8%, Escherichia coli 9.7%, Enterobacter spp 8.0%, Pseudomonas spp 8.0%, Bacillus spp 6.9%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 5.7%, Serratia marcescens 4.7%, Providencia spp 3.4%, Staphylococcus spp 2.3% and Klebsiella oxytoca 1.8%. The prevalence of Periplaneta Americana was highly significant and Enterococcus spp was the most common bacterial isolate in the hospital environment. Cockroaches appear to be potential source of spread of infection in the hospitals. Effective measures need to be taken to tackle this issue

Mosquitoes species of Rawalpindi/Islamabad area

The survey was conducted during April 1990 to December 1991, to determine the prevalent species of anopheles and culex mosquitoes in the urban and rural areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A total of 12592 mosquitoes were of captured. Of which 87.2% were identified as different species of culex and 12.8% anopheles species. A total of 12 anopheles and 8 culex species were identified. Maximum number of mosquitoes were captured in the month of November [18.2%], when the maximum temperature, relative humidity and rainfall was 24°C, 95%, 7.4mm respectively. An. culicifacies was found as the most abundant specy [47%] among anopheles species and C.vagans [53%] among culex species. About 2/3rd [64.8%] mosquitoes of the total number were captured from urban areas and 1/3rd [35.2%] from rural areas. The relative abundance of genus anopheline was found at rural area [12.2%] and to genus culicine at urban areas [64.2%]. Mosquitoes of both urban and rural areas preferred to rest at cattle sheds [65%] than bed rooms [35%]