Bacteriological Profile of Healthcare Workers and Patients’ Hands at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi Outreach Centres

Authors

  • Martin Wanyama Wamalwa Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi Department of Medical Laboratory Science Mount Kenya University, Kenya
  • Kennedy Kuria Muna Department of Medical Laboratory Science Muranga University of Technology
  • Geoffrey Omuse Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi
  • Stanley Kang’ethe Kamwati Department of Medical Laboratory Science Mount Kenya University, Kenya
  • Revathi Gunturu Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21276/apalm.3011

Keywords:

Bacteriological profile, susceptibility pattern, outpatient point of care, healthcare providers and patients’ hands

Abstract

Background: Hand hygiene is the precursor to improved health standards among healthcare workers and patients seeking outpatient services. Unhygienic hands may escalate the transmission of multi-drug resistance bacteria that poses serious pathological manifestation to the vulnerable and susceptible patients. The study aims at establishing the possible pathogen and susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus carried on hands of healthcare provider and their patients.

Methods: Cross sectional study design and random sampling of patients and convenient sampling of healthcare workers was carried out between May to August 2020 at Aga Khan University hospital Nairobi satellites. The participant’s hands palm and finger tips imprints were made on Blood agar during sample collection. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus was established using Vitek-2 automated system.

Result: The study had 374 participants out of which 14% were colonized by possible pathogens. The overall Staphylococcus aureus hand carriage prevalence 6.9% (26/374) isolated from healthcare provider and patient at outpatient facility. The methicillin resistant staphylococcal in this study was 0.56% (2/374) showing resistance to both Oxacillin and Cefoxitin. Healthcare workers are prone to colonization with possible pathogens as compared to patient P-value .049.  Staphylococcus aureus isolates were all resistant to penicillin.

Conclusion: Hand hygiene mitigating measures in outpatient healthcare facilities should be sustained on the counts that 14% of possible pathogens in this study were isolated. Healthcare providers at the point of care in outpatient should strictly follow the hand hygiene protocols provided by WHO to curb the transmission of possible pathogenic bacteria.

References

Musu, M., Lai, A., Mereu, N. M., Galletta, M., Campagna, M., Tidore, M., Colombo, S. (2017). Assessing hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in six Intensive Care Units. Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene, 58(3), E231.

Aiken, A. M., Mutuku, I. M., Sabat, A. J., Akkerboom, V., Mwangi, J., Scott, J. A. G., Grundmann, H. (2014). Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in Thika Level 5 Hospital, Kenya: a cross-sectional study. Antimicrobial resistance and infection control, 3(1), 22.

Dancer, S. J. (2014). Controlling Hospital- Acquired Infection: Focus on the role of the Environment and the new technology for decontamination. Clinical Microbiology Review, 27(4), 665-690.

Ataee, R. A., Ataee, M. H., Tavana, A. M., & Salesi, M. (2017). Bacteriological aspects of hand washing: A key for health promotion and infections control. International journal of preventive medicine, 8.

Belkum, A. V., & Rochas, O. (2018). Laboratory-based abd point of care testint for MSSA/MRSA detectionin the age of whole genome sequencing. Frontiers in microbiology, 9(1437).

Prabhu, M., Sugumari, C., & Pranesh, G. (2017). Bacteriological profile of health workers hands working in various ICUs of a tertiary care hospital. Global journal for research analysis, 6(5).

Russotto, V., Cortegiani, A., Raineri, S. M., P. Iozzo, Gregoretti, C., & Giarratano, A. (2017). What is the risk of acquiring bacteria from prior intensive care unit bed occupants?. Critical Care, 21(1), 55-62.

David, M. Z., Siegel, J. D., Henderson, J., Leos, G., Lo, K., Iwuora, J., Boyle-Vavra, S. (2014). Hand and nasal carriage of discordant Staphylococcus aureus isolates among urban jail detainees. Journal of clinical microbiology, 52(9), 3422-3425.

Elshabrawy, W. O., Zaki, M. E., & Kamel, M. F. (2017). Genetic and phenotypic study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among patients and health care workers in Mansoura University Hospital, Egypt. Iranian journal of microbiology, 9(2), 82.

Matuka O, Binta B, Carman A, & Singh T. (2018). Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli levels on the hand of theatre staff. Creative Common Licence CC-BY-NC, 108(6).

Omuse, G., Kabara, B., & Revathi., G. (2014). Low Prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus determine by an automated identification system Biomedcentral infectious diseases, 14(669).

Karaaslan, A., Kepenekli Kadayifci, E., Atıcı, S., Sili, U., Soysal, A., Çulha, G., Bakır, M. (2014). Compliance of healthcare workers with hand hygiene practices in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units: overt observation. Interdisciplinary perspectives on infectious diseases, 2014.

Visalachy, S., Palraj, K. K., Kopula, S. S., & Sekar, U. (2016). Carriage of Multidrug Resistant Bacteria on Frequently Contacted Surfaces and Hands of Health Care Workers. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 10(5), DC18–DC20.

Mogere, Alex W (2015). Carriage rate of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus among health care workers at The Kenyatta National Hospital. http://hdl.handle.net/11295/94041

Sousa, A. M.; Pereira, M. O., 2013. A prospect of current microbial diagnosis methods. In A. Mendez-Vilas, Microbial Pathogens and Strategies for Combating Them: Science, Technology and Education, Vol. 3, ISBN: 978-84-942134-1-0, 1429-1438

Mathew, R. S., Ambica, R., & Shantala, G. B. (2017). Study of Bacteriological Profile on Hands of Health Care Workers in ICU Setup in a Tertiary Care Hospital. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences (IJCMAS), 6(12), 2698-2702.

Joachim, A., Moyo, S. J., Nkinda, L., Majigo, M., Mbaga, E., Mbembati, N. et al. Lyamuya, E. F. (2017). Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage BioMed Central research notes, 10(417).

Downloads

Published

31-03-2021

How to Cite

1.
Wamalwa MW, Muna KK, Omuse G, Kamwati SK, Gunturu R. Bacteriological Profile of Healthcare Workers and Patients’ Hands at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi Outreach Centres. Ann of Pathol and Lab Med [Internet]. 2021 Mar. 31 [cited 2024 Nov. 17];8(3):A82-88. Available from: https://pacificejournals.com/journal/index.php/apalm/article/view/3011

Issue

Section

Original Article