Determination of bacterial and fungal loads and antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacteria isolated from public toilet door handles in Vellore district, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

The main aim of this work is to portray the prevalence of both the pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms on fomites such as public toilet door handles in Vellore district, India which may pose a risk to the community through transmission of infection. Swabs were collected from the door handles of different public toilets and it was found that the toilet door handles of hospital, bus station and railway station had a higher rate of contamination compared to schools and college. Majority of the bacterial isolates were coliforms and Gram negative bacteria. The following bacterial species were isolated such as Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella sp, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp, Shigella sp, Micrococcus sp, Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas sp and Proteus sp. Fungus such as Rhodotorula sp, Candida sp and Rhizopus sp were found. Among Gram positive bacteria, Micrococcus sp (58%) showed highest resistance to antibiotics followed by Staphylococcus sp (50%) and Bacillus sp (42%). Among Gram negative bacteria, Pseudomonas sp (83%) showed highest resistance and Proteus sp (58%) showed the least resistance to antibiotics. To summarize the contamination of public toilet door handles largely go unnoticed but can cause serious infections and measures should be undertaken to control it.