Diversity and Resistance of Bacteria Isolated from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Surfaces and the Hands of Nurses in Jeddah-Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are a serious problem forneonates when admitted to NICUs. The healthcare environment and healthcareworkers' hands may be a source of transmission. Therefore, there is a need tofind microbial sources and identify the contaminants to improve disinfectionprotocols to reduce HAIs. Out of the 169 samples collected on nutrient agarmedia from NICUs of a hospital in Saudi Arabia, 122 bacterial strains wereisolated and some were identified as infection-causing bacteria. The samplescollected from various surfaces, equipment, and nurses’ hands were divided intotwo groups. One of which was collected from close proximities of patients tothe source of infection and the second was collected from a distance. Thetested inanimate environments included incubators, oxygen monitors, heartmonitors, temperature monitors, intravenous, stethoscopes, tables, IV trolleys,weighing scales, windows, and sinks. The results showed that all testedequipment and surrounding surfaces were contaminated with various species ofbacteria except the sinks. Out of 122 bacterial samples, 78 isolates wereidentified as cocci and 44 as bacilli. Also, 105 isolates were Gram-positiveand 17 were Gram-negative. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques, 11 generaof bacteria namely, Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Pseudomonas,Micrococcus, Escherichia, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Citrobacter, lelliottia,and Acinetobacter were isolated and identified. The most isolated andwidely spread bacteria was S. epidermidis, which was followed by B. cereus.Some of these strains were found resistant to several antibiotics whensusceptibility tests were performed by using Vitek 2 with cards (AST-GP67,AST-N292, AST-N291). The present study showed some bacterial species posethreats to the health of hospitalized babies; hence it is important to improvedisinfection protocols in neonatal ICU to ensure the safety of baby patients.