The increasing phenomenon of antibiotic resistance occurring in microorganisms serves as a significant public health concern worldwide, notably in hospital environments. A study investigating the occurrence of bacterial bioaerosols and their antibiotic resistance patterns in particulate matter collected from hospitals in the greater Dhaka region, Bangladesh, sheds light on this critical issue.
The study’s findings, which were gathered from four hospitals and two ambient locations, were based on the real-time measurement of particulate matter concentrations. A culture-based method was employed to determine bacterial bioaerosol concentration. Eleven bacterial species were isolated, and antibiotic susceptibility testing was conducted using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method with 21 antibiotics.
The data presented a significant correlation between bacterial bioaerosol concentration and PM1.0 and PM2.5 concentrations. Furthermore, all bacterial isolates from the hospitals displayed resistance against four or more antibiotics, indicating a widespread issue of multidrug resistance (MDR). The highest resistance levels were recorded for ampicillin, azithromycin, erythromycin, cefixime, and cotrimoxazole.
The findings of the study emphasize the immediate necessity for infection control measures and continual surveillance strategies in healthcare settings, with a particular focus on global hospital infection control practices targeting airborne multidrug-resistant microorganisms. The exploration and effectively addressing of environmental parameters affecting bioaerosol load and resistance became central to the study.
The research underscores the critical contribution bioaerosols make to chronic health issues, respiratory illnesses, and infectious diseases. The identification of bacterial isolates obtained from the sample sites could throw light on nosocomial infection and other potential health impacts in hospital environments, and may facilitate the examination of antibiotic resistance amongst the isolated bacteria.