Quantification and Analysis of Airborne Bacterial Characteristics in a Nursing Care Institution

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the air sampling points in room A (a, b, c, d, e, and f) and room B (I, II, III, IV, and V).

Figure 2. The results of monitoring data in room A.

Table 1. The results of monitoring data in rooms A and B on different sampling dates

	Room A		Room B
	Jun 1	Aug 1	Jun 1	Aug 1
CO2 (ppm)	1070–1280	1220–1300	739–857	1126–1267
RH (%)	63.7–65.4	67.8–72.2	69.2–73.7	66.9–67.2
Colony counts (cfu m^−3)	57–148	155–806	459–1392	141–226
Notes: Values that were higher than those in the same room on different sampling dates are in bold.

Figure 3. The results of monitoring data in room B.

Table 2. Predictors of colony counts among the environmental factors

	Bacterial Colony Count (n = 71)
	Univariable Model					Multivariable Model ^a
Variables	β	SEM	T	P	r^2	adβ	SEM	T	P
CO2	−0.49	0.20	−2.43	0.018	0.788	−0.819	0.175	−4.69	< 0.0001
CO	−11.22	11.76	−0.95	0.34	0.013
O3	0.48	0.47	1.02	0.31	0.015
Temperature	37.52	41.19	0.91	0.37	0.012
RH	24.77	6.05	4.10	0.0001	0.200	33.04	5.58	5.92	0.0001
Notes: Adjusted regression coefficient (adβ) is used in the context of multiple linear regression analysis and gives the amount by which the dependent variable increases when one independent variable is increased by one unit and all of the other independent variables are held constant. T = T value, β = regression coefficient, r^2 = coefficient of determination, adβ = adjusted β. ^ar^2 = 0.392.

Table 3. Specific primers for airborne-specific bacterial pathogens in real-time PCR assay

Pathogen/Primer	DNA Sequence (5′-3′)	Reference
Acinetobacter baumannii
Aci4(F)	5′-CAAGATTCACGCCGTGGAA-3′	This study
Aci4(R)	5′-TTACGGTTTTCAGGGTCCATTG-3′
Citrobacter freundii
Citro(F)	5′-CGTTACTCGCAGAAGAAGCAC-3′	This study
Citro(R)	5′-CTACGCATTTCACCGCTACA-3′
Escherichia coli
Ecol(F)	5′-TCCTACGGGAGGCAGCAGT-3′	17
Ecol(R)	5′-GGACTACCAGGGTATCTAATCCTGTT-3′
Klebsiella pneumonia
Kleb2(F)	5′-TGCCGCGTGTGTGAAGAA-3′	This study
Kleb2(R)	5′-ACGGAGTTAGCCGGTGCTT-3′
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Sta(F)	5′-CTAGGTGTTGGTGAAGATATACCA-3′	56
Sta(R)	5′-TGAGGTGCGTTAATATTGCCA-3′
Notes: (F) = forward primer, (R) = reverse primer.

Figure 4. Gel electrophoresis. M = DNA ladder (100 base pairs [bp]), A = A. baumannii (101 bp), C = C. freundii (221 bp), E = E. coli (446 bp), K = K. pneumoniae (119 bp), S = S. aureus (188 bp).

Figure 5. The percentage of detected bacteria in (a) room A and (b) room b.

An , H.R. , Mainelis , G. and White , L. 2006 . Development and Calibration of Real-Time PCR for Quantification of Airborne Microorganisms in Air Samples . Atmos. Environ. , 40 : 7924 – 7939 .

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Hogg , G.M. , Mckenna , J.P. and Ong , G. 2008 . Rapid Detection of Methicillin-Susceptible and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Directly from Positive BacT/Alert® Blood Culture Bottles Using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction: Evaluation and Comparison of 4 DNA Extraction Methods . Diag. Micro. Infect. Dis. , 61 : 446 – 452 .

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar