Medical Microbiology & Diagnosis

Introduction: Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are major public health problems globally, with higher prevalence in developing countries. They are part of the major causes of mortality and morbidity at neonatal wards. They increase the use of medical resources, duration of hospitalization, as well as cost of treatment. This study was done to determine the environmental reservoirs of healthcare associated infections at the Neonatal wards of Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

Methodology: A total of 220 environmental surface swab samples were collected using sterile ethylene oxide swab sticks pre-moistened with sterile normal saline and were cultured on standard media and incubated aerobically at 36 ± 1°C for 18 to 24 hours. Identification of bacterial isolates was performed using the Biomerieux Vitek^® 2 equipment.

Results: The overall contamination rate was 8.84%. Twenty isolates were isolated; Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most prevalent isolate (45%) The sinks were the most contaminated surfaces with a rate of 60%.

Conclusion: This study showed areas of environmental contamination which could serve as potential sources of healthcare associated infections. Thorough cleaning, disinfection of these surfaces and proper hand hygiene practices would be needed to reduce the risk of infections in the study site.