HOSPITAL AIRBORNE MICROBIAL POLLUTION IN A DESERT COUNTRY

The level of airborne microbes in hospitals is unknown in the United A rab Emirates (UAE), An investigation of the quantity and quality of ai rborne microbes in Al-Ain hospital, UAE, was carried out to establish standards for future reference. Using a bacteria mechanical air sample r, microbiological samples were collected from different hospital unit s. The bacterial and fungal isolates were enumerated and identified, T he variables were coded, entered, and processed by the Statistical Pac kages for Social Sciences (SPSS) with p<0.05 considered the cutoff poi nt. Ten groups of microorganisms isolated were either human or environ mental bacteria and fungi. Environmental agents predominated and were not identified, Some units were significantly bacteriologically more c ontaminated than others but fungi were close in most wards. There were small numbers and quantities of potential pathogens. There were five genera of fungi isolated with a predominance of Aspergillus species bu t these were low. The intensive care unit (ICU) and operating theatre (OT) had low counts and significantly more human related than environm ental microorganisms. The quantity and quality of the microbial popula tion seem to be reasonable in this observation and will serve as refer ences for future studies. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.