ABSTRACT
Background: Harbouring of potential pathogens in operationtheatres (OTs) and intensive care units (ICUs) of hospital is amajor cause of patient’s morbidity and mortality. Environmentalmonitoring by the microbiological testing of surfaces andequipments is useful to detect changing trends of types andcounts of microbial flora. High level of microbial contaminationindicates the needs for periodic surveillance aimed at earlydetection of bacterial contamination levels and prevention ofhospital acquired infections.Aim: The aims of the study were to count CFU (colony formingunit) rate of indoor air, to identify bacterial colonization ofsurface and equipments isolated from Operation theatres, ICUsand Labour room of a teaching hospital in district Kangra,Himachal Pradesh.Methods: This retrospective study, analyzing themicrobiological surveillance data from OTs over a period of 2years from January2017 to December2018 was conducted at atertiary care hospital. Air sampling of 8 OT’s, 4 ICU’s and 1 LRwere done by settle plate method. Swabs were taken fromdifferent sites, equipments and bacterial species were isolatedand identified from them as per standard guidelines.Result: A total of 105 air samples were collected for 2 yearfrom 8 OT’s, 4 ICU’s and 1 LR. The bacterial CFU/m3 /mincounts of air from all OTs ranged from Superspeciality OTSshowed less bacterial CFU rate of air (0-5 CFU/m3) followed byOpthalmology OT (5-8 CFU/m3) and highest in Gynae (30-46CFU/m3). CCU showed less bacterial CFU rate (10-15CFU/m3) followed by Surgery ICU (28-35 CFU/m3) and highestin PICU (38-42 CFU/m3), Labour room showed 42-51 CFU/m3.Bacterial species were isolated from 43.85 % out of total 157swab samples taken from all OTs and ICUs. The mostcommon isolate was Bacillus species 46% followed by CONS(22%). Pathogenic organisms isolated were 10% Gramnegative bacilli which included 3% Non-Fermenters, thecommon isolate was Klebsiella spp. amongst gram negatives.