Environmental contamination across multiple hospital departments with multidrug-resistant bacteria pose an elevated risk of healthcare-associated infections in Kenyan hospitals.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are often caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria contaminating hospital environments which can cause outbreaks as well as sporadic transmission.

Methods: This study systematically sampled and utilized standard bacteriological culture methods to determine the numbers and types of MDR Enterococcus faecalis/faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter species, and Escherichia coli (ESKAPEE) from high-touch environments of five Kenyan hospitals; level 6 and 5 hospitals (A, B, and C), and level 4 hospitals (D and E), in 2018. Six hundred and seventeen high-touch surfaces across six hospital departments; surgical, general, maternity, newborn, outpatient and pediatric were sampled.

Determination of and Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Factors and Their Association with Clinical and Demographic Factors in Kenya.

Background: Enterococci are clinically significant because of their increasing antibiotic resistance and their ability to cause severe infections due to an arsenal of virulence genes. Few studies in the developing world have examined virulence factors that may significantly impact patient outcomes. This study describes the antimicrobial resistance profiles and prevalence of five key genes , , , and in forty-four clinical and isolates in Kenya and their association with patients' demographic and clinical characteristics.

Ten Thousand-Fold Higher than Acceptable Bacterial Loads Detected in Kenyan Hospital Environments: Targeted Approaches to Reduce Contamination Levels.

Microbial monitoring of hospital surfaces can help identify target areas for improved infection prevention and control (IPCs). This study aimed to determine the levels and variations in the bacterial contamination of high-touch surfaces in five Kenyan hospitals and identify the contributing modifiable risk factors. A total of 559 high-touch surfaces in four departments identified as high risk of hospital-acquired infections were sampled and examined for bacterial levels of contamination using standard bacteriological culture methods.