Microbial Assessment of Bed Linens in Ekiti State University Students’ Hostels

Abstract

Bed linen is clearly recognized as a potential reservoir for microorganisms and could be a vector of disease transmission. The present study was aimed at isolating and characterizing bacteria and fungi from different kinds of bed linen of student in Ekiti State University hostels. Pour plate method was used for the enumeration of total bacteria count from the posterior and anterior end of the bed linen. The average bacteria count for the anterior and posterior end was 7.46 and 7.16 Log10 CFU/ml respectively. The most dominant microbial species were bacteria and these were mostly found in the environment and on human skin. The bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella aerogenes. Bacillus cereus had the highest frequency of occurrence (25%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (15%), Escherichia coli (15%), Klebsiella aerogenes (15%), Staphylococcus epidermis (15%), Enterobacter aerogenes (10%) and Proteus mirabilis (5%). The fungi isolates were Aspergillus sulphureus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium spp. Antibiotics susceptibility test was carried out on the bacteria isolates with gram negative bacteria showing resistance to Cotrimoxazole and gram positive bacteria showing resistance to Amplicillin. Most of the bacteria isolates have multiple antibiotics resistance. The bacterial isolates were susceptible to Ciprofloxacin. Plasmid profiling was also done with Escherichia coli having three high molecular weight plasmids, Bacillus cereus and Enterobacter aerogenes do not possess plasmid. The identified species are suspected to be opportunistic pathogens for human, representing a risk for people with weakened immune system, especially in cases of super-infection.

Bed Linen: A Reservoir Of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens

“…As in this study, multiple resistance to commonly used antibiotics has been reported in several microorganisms, including Escherichia and Staphylococcus species, isolated from bed linens of university students (Olowomofe et al, 2020). Bed linens used in other settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and the larger community, have also been identified as potential sources of pathogenic microorganisms (Okareh, 2018;Pinon et al, 2013;Bloomfield et al, 2011).…”

“…From the bed linens of 23 undergraduate students, 9 bacterial isolates were obtained, including strains of S. aureus (7) and E. coli (2). Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that a significant number of the isolates were resistant to cefuroxime, ceftazidime, cefixime, nitofurantoin, erythromycin, and augmentin (Table 1).…”

“…Clothing materials have been shown to act as microorganism reservoirs, as these organisms can survive on such surfaces for periods ranging from a few seconds to several hours or days (Olowomofe et al, 2020;Gopal and Solabannavar, 2020). It has been reported that fabrics such as bed linen serve as a potential reservoir for both pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms.…”

“…According to one study, undergraduate university students were found to harbour potentially harmful multidrug-resistant microorganisms (Chukwunwejim et al, 2018). Another study discovered the predominance of bacterial species as compared to fungal isolates in bed linens from students who live in university hostels (Olowomofe et al, 2020).…”