OPPORTUNISTIC BACTERIA TYPES AND SENSITIVITY ON FREQUENTLY USED FOMITES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA BARATON IN NANDI COUNTY
Abstract
Outside and indoor settings, bacteria are found to be the ubiquitous microorganisms causing microbial contamination. Bacteria infect, transmits bacterial infections while they are in direct contact with vulnerable people. Fomites can act as environmental reservoirs to increase the ability of pathogens to be transferred from host to host. An inanimate object, which can transmit an infectious agent, is known as a fomite. The main objective of this study was to identify opportunistic bacteria types on frequently used fomites in University of Eastern Africa Baraton in Nandi County. The study area which was University of Eastern Africa Baraton was purposively selected as it is the post-secondary institution of higher learning, in the region. The research design that was employed was experimental design where the bacteria were isolated, characterized and antimicrobial activity the antibacterial sensible nature of the samples were performed through the disc diffusion method. Bacteria was isolated from various fomites, Stratified sampling technique was used to divide the population of fomites in subgroups (or strata) within the University and, due to the big number of the sampling sites. The researcher isolated, characterized and determined the antibacterial sensitivity of fomites bacteria. 365 swabs were obtained in different facilities inside the University by swabbing of the toilet cistern handles, office doors faucets and shopping baskets (sterile swabs moistened with buffered peptone water). They were then correctly labelled with reference numbers and transported in peptone water transport medium to the Biology Laboratory. This was done in the second semester of the academic year 2020/2021. The data was analyzed using SPSS Version 23. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the prevalence of bacteria types isolated from fomites within the University buildings. All values were expressed as means and findings were presented in the form of frequency tables. The study found out that 90.2% of the samples were bacteria with 9.8% being fungi. Doors had the greatest number of gram-positive cocci (78.9%) followed by faucets and cisterns. Doors had the greatest number of gram-negative cocci (17.6%) bacteria followed by faucets and cisterns. Doors had the greatest number of gram-negative rod (3.5%) bacteria as compared to doors. Doors had gram positive rod bacteria. Faucets did not have gram negative and gram-positive rods. The gram-positive bacterial isolates were Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus aureus. The gram-negative bacterial isolates were Escheichia coli and Morexella catarrhalis. 66.8% of the bacteria were resistant to Penicillin, Cotrimoxazole, Ampicillin, Erythromycin, Methicillin, Lincomycin, Minocycline and Chloramphenicol.