Bioaerosol sampling for airborne bacteria in a small animal veterinary teaching hospital

Figures & data

Table 1 Sampling schedule for the study

		Sampling week
Room^a	Group	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
SOR	1		•	•		•		•		•
RAD	1		•	•		•		•		•
CR	2		•	•		•		•		•
KR	2		•	•		•		•		•
IR	2		•	•		•		•		•
LER	1		•		•		•		•		•
SER	1		•		•		•		•		•
SP	1		•		•		•		•		•
SPR	1		•		•		•		•		•
LOR	1		•		•		•		•		•
RR	2		•		•		•		•		•

•Sampling areas.

^aSOR = small operating room, RAD = radiology room, CR = cat room, KR = Kennel room, IR = isolation room, LER = large examination room, SER = small examination room, SP = special procedures room, SPR = surgery preparation room, LOR = large operating room, RR = recovery room.

Table 2 Frequency distribution of aerobic bacteria in Group 1 rooms

	Time of sampling
	AM	PM	Total
Organisms	Frequency (%)* of distribution of bacteria
Enterobacter aerogenes	3 (2.3)	1 (0.8)	4 (3.1)
Acinetobacter spp.	2 (1.5)	4 (3.1)	6 (4.6)
Aerococcus spp.	1 (0.8)	0 (0.0)	1 (0.8)
Alcaligenes spp.	0 (0.0)	2 (1.5)	2 (1.5)
Bacillus spp.	15 (11.5)	6 (4.6)	21 (16.1)
Citrobacter spp.	1 (0.8)	0 (0.0)	1 (0.8)
Corynebacterium spp.	11 (8.4)	11 (8.4)	22 (16.8)
Klebsiella spp.	0 (0.0)	2 (1.5)	2 (1.5)
Kurthia spp.	1 (0.8)	1 (0.8)	2 (1.6)
Micrococcus spp.	25 (19.1)	23 (17.6)	48 (36.7)
Pseudomonas spp.	1 (0.8)	0 (0.0)	1 (0.8)
Serratia spp.	2 (1.5)	0 (0.0)	2 (1.5)
Staphylococcus spp.	14 (10.7)	5 (3.8)	19 (14.5)

AM = morning, PM = afternoon.

*Based on number of times a particular bacterium was isolated/total number of times (131) all bacteria were isolated.

Table 3 Frequency distribution of aerobic bacteria in Group 2 rooms

	Time of sampling
	AM	PM	Total
Organism	Frequency (%)* of distribution of bacteria
Enterobacter aerogenes	1 (1.2)	0 (0.0)	1 (1.2)
Escherichia coli	3 (3.6)	1 (1.2)	4 (4.8)
Acinetobacter spp.	2 (2.4)	1 (1.2)	3 (3.6)
Alcaligenes spp.	1 (1.2)	1 (1.2)	2 (2.4)
Bacillus spp.	9 (10.8)	4 (4.8)	13 (15.6)
Citrobacter spp.	0 (0.0)	1 (1.2)	1 (1.2)
Corynebacterium spp.	8 (9.6)	5 (6.0)	13 (15.6)
Klebsiella spp.	1 (1.2)	1 (1.2)	2 (2.4)
Micrococcus spp.	15 (18.1)	14 (16.9)	29 (35.0)
Serratia spp.	1 (1.2)	0 (0.0)	1 (1.2)
Staphylococcus spp.	9 (10.8)	5 (6.0)	14 (16.8)

AM = morning; PM = afternoon.

*Based on number of times a particular bacterium was isolated/total number of times (83) all bacteria were isolated.

Fig. 1 Geometric mean±SD of total air plate counts of Group 1 rooms (p=0.0028).

Fig. 2 Geometric mean±SD of total air plate counts of Group 2 rooms.