Ophthalmology hospital wards contamination to pathogenic free living Amoebae in Iran

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the occurrence of potentially pathogenic free-living amoeba in ophthalmology wards in reference hospitals in Iran. Since an increasing number of Acanthamoeba Keratitis cases after eye surgery and eye trauma have been recently observed in this country, it could be possible that the disinfection procedures undertaken in the clinical setting may not have a good hygiene and disinfection procedures, hence the aim of this study. Therefore, 42 dust and biofilm samples were collected from different areas of ophthalmology wards and checked for the presence of FLA using morphological criteria, PCR based analysis and DNA sequencing. Of the 42 samples from dust and biofilm sources, 18(42.86%) isolates were found to contain FLA and 12(92.3%) isolates belonged to Acanthamoeba T4 genotype. Isolation of the pathogenic genotype T4 from medical instruments, including slit lamp in corneal wards, may be a threat for patients undergoing eye surgery in these wards. Other FLA isolated in this study included Acanthamoeba genotype T5, Vahlkampfia sp, Naegleria australiensis, Vermamoeba vermiformis and Echinamoeba exudans. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of potentially pathogenic FLA in ophthalmology wards in Iran. Improved disinfection methods and monitoring of hospitals ward are thus necessary in this area in order to minimize the risk of infection in patients.

Molecular Identification and Genotyping of Acanthamoeba Isolated from Environmental Sources in Kashan, Central Iran

“…In previous studies, the prevalence of free-living amoebae in the immunodeficiency wards of hospitals was reported to be 52.9% (17) and 42.8% (18) in Tehran, Iran, respectively. On the other hand, the prevalence of Acanthamoeba spp.…”

Free-living amoebae in the water resources of Iran: a systematic review

“…However, FLA have been isolated from different water sources such as water (Yousuf et al 2013;Winck et al 2011), water tanks (Lorenzo-Morales et al 2006Mosayebi et al 2014), swimming pools (Dabirzadeh et al 2015, water ponds and facades (Lorenzo-Morales et al 2005a), rivers and lakes (Lorenzo-Morales et al 2005b), fountains and aqueducts, wells and water channels (Armand et al 2015), and even bottles of mineral water (Trabelsi et al 2012). Soil, dust (Karamati et al 2016;Niyyati et al 2009a), air conditioning devices, hospital equipment (Lasjerdi et al 2011a), dental units and ophthalmology equipment (Retana-Moreira et al 2015;Lasjerdi et al 2015), respiratory tract tube (Memari et al 2015), animal waste (Lorenzo-Morales et al 2007a), etc are the other sources for isolating FLA. The hygiene of water resources has always been of particular importance due to the different uses and constant exposure to humans.…”

Isolation and Identification of Acanthamoeba Strains From the Oral Cavity of Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis in Shahrekord County, the Southwest of Iran in 2018

“…from dust and biofilm samples in hospitals in different countries. [32][33][34] Therefore, the existence of Acanthamoeba spp. in the hemodialysis system and hospitals should be considered as a major risk for patients with renal failure who necessitate hemodialysis.…”