Background: With the development of science and technology, self-service facilities have been widely used in hospitals. This study aimed to assess the microbial contamination characteristics on touch surfaces in outpatient, self-service facilities from Monday to Friday.
Methods: Touch surfaces in outpatient facilities were swabbed and surveyed for total microbial growth before and after work every morning. Selected bacteria were identified to screen for pathogenic organisms.
Results: There were 360 samples collected, 87 samples (24.2%) were culture-positive. Staphylococcus species were the main microbial contamination. The three most common bacteria were S. hominis, S. epidermidis and S. hemolyticus. After work, more microbial contamination was found on Monday (p = 0.029). There was no difference in sample positive rates between self-service facilities and manual service area. Although, the antibiotic resistance patterns of different staphylococcus species were different, the overall drug resistance rate is low. Only one S. aureus was methicillin-Sensitive S. aureus.
Conclusions: The self-service facilities' touch surfaces microbial contamination were similar to manual service area, but the more used, the more microbial contamination was found. Hospitals should enhance cleaning times of self-service facilities to keep them clean, especially on Mondays.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.7754/Clin.Lab.2021.210225 | DOI Listing |
Chemosphere
December 2024
College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, PR China. Electronic address:
Heavy metals released from metallic sulfidic tailings pose significant environmental threats by contaminating surface and groundwater in mining areas. Sustainable rehabilitation methods are essential to remove or stabilize these metals, improving the quality of acid mine drainage and minimizing pollution. This study examines the adsorption capacity of zinc ions (Zn) by different iron-silicate mineral groups under natural weathering and bacteria-regulated weathered conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hazard Mater
December 2024
Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural & Rural Pollution Abatement and Environmental Safety, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address:
Naturally aged microplastics (NAMPs) are commonly found in farmland soils contaminated with heavy metals (HMs), such as arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd); yet their combined effects on soil-plant ecosystems remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the toxic effects of NAMPs and As-Cd on lettuce, considering the influence of earthworm activity, and examined changes in As-Cd bioavailability in the rhizosphere. Four experimental systems were established: soil-only, soil-lettuce, soil-earthworms, and soil-lettuce-earthworms systems, with four NAMPs concentrations (0, 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater Res
December 2024
Department of Sanitation and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenue Antônio Carlos, 6627, Campus Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Electronic address:
Arsenic (As) enrichment in groundwater stems from natural and hydrogeochemical factors, leading to geological contamination. Groundwater and surface water are interconnected, allowing As migration and surface water contamination. The As contamination poses health risks through contaminated water consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCompr Rev Food Sci Food Saf
January 2025
School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Cultivated meat, produced using cell culture technology, is an alternative to conventional meat production that avoids the risks from enteric pathogens associated with animal slaughter and processing. Cultivated meat therefore has significant theoretical microbiological safety advantages, though limited information is available to validate this. This review discusses sources and vectors of microbial contamination throughout cultivated meat production, introduces industry survey data to evaluate current industry practices for monitoring and mitigating these hazards, and highlights future research needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Res Notes
December 2024
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
Objectives: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a zoonotic pathogen that poses a serious threat to veterinary and public health worldwide. We investigated mastitis milk samples for contamination with MRSA and also characterized the MRSA isolates by investigating antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors.
Result: We confirmed MRSA in 69 of 201 (34.
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