Exposure to microorganisms suspended in the air of both occupational and residential indoor environments is associated with a wide range of adverse health effects with major public health impacts. The quality of indoor air is one of the most significant factors affecting the health and well being of people. So the present study was conducted to assess bacteriological and fungal concentration of the indoor air of a teaching tertiary care institute hospital. The present study was carried for a period of three months from June 2018 to August 2018. Air sampling was performed with passive air sampling (settle plate’s methods) according to the 1/1/1 scheme (a Petri dish with a diameter of 9 cm was placed for 1 hour, 1 meter above the floor, and about 1 meter away from the walls). Each ward Petri dishes was exposed for 60 min in the morning and afternoon. Bacteria and fungi was collected on nutrient Agar, Blood Agar and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar(SDA). To obtain the appropriate surface density for counting and to determine the load with respect to time of exposure, the sampling times were set at 60 min in the morning (at 10.00-11.00 AM) and afternoon (2:00-3.00 PM). Both quantitative and qualitative analyses was conducted. The results indicate that the bacterial CFU/m air has been recorded in the range of 65.52 CFU/ m to 1179 CFU/ m at 60 min exposure. The results indicate that the fungal CFU/m air has been recorded in the range no growth to 262 CFU/ m at 60 min exposure. Gram Positive Bacteria were isolated more than Gram Negative Bacteria with predominance of . Whereas, the fungal isolates includes dominance of Candida spp followed by Aspergillus spp. This study revealed that hospital buildings were being ventilated by the aid of natural ventilation system which may increase the possibility of entrance of pollutants from unhygienic external environment. Modern built environment can be a potential source of bioaerosols. Bio-aerosol monitoring in hospitals can be used for tracking of nosocomial infections, identify the source and spread of airborne microorganisms to control hospital associated infections (HAI).

Introduction: Mobile phones are used extensively by the healthcare workers who are completely unaware of the microbial load they carry. There are no guidelines on the cleanliness of these mobile phones which makes them an important source of hospital acquired infections among the patients in the hospital. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the extent of bacterial colonisation of mobile phones from health care workers and elucidate its antibiotic sensitivity pattern. Settings and Design: The present study was hospital based cross-sectional study, carried out to analyse the bacterial colonization of mobile phones of healthcare personnel in the tertiary care hospital for a period of three months from 1st July 2017 to 30th September 2017. Materials and Methods: A sterile swab moistened with sterile normal saline was rolled over the exposed areas of the mobile phones of 117 health care personnel which included 18 samples from technicians, 35 from nurses, 29 from ward boys, and 35 samples from doctors. The swabs were cultured on 5% sheep blood agar and MacConkey agar plates. Plates were incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24 hours. The growth was identified by standard microbiological techniques and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern was carried out as per CLSI guidelines. Statistical Analysis: Statistical Analysis was done using MedCalc and Microsoft excel. Results: Overall bacterial contamination was found to be 92% (108) and maximum contamination was noted on the mobile phones of laboratory technicians (100%). All the healthcare workers showed polymicrobial growth on their mobile phones and maximum isolates were observed on the mobile phones of ward boys. Staphylococcus aureus, 44 (37.6%) was the most common isolate followed by Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 14 each (12%) and Acinetobacter species 6(5.1%). These isolates were resistant to commonly available antibiotics like Co-Trimoxazole, Ampicillin, and Amoxyclav. MRSA was found to be 16% in our study, whereas ESBL and MBL were not noted. Conclusions: As these organisms can become an important source of Hospital acquired infection, strict hand hygiene, decontamination of mobile phones and restriction of the use of mobile phones in high risk areas should be advocated.