Temporal trends in indoor bioaerosols: implications for dental healthcare environments

ABSTRACT

Antibiotic resistance, a significant public health hazard, is predicted to cause 10 million deaths worldwide by 2050. The study aimed to identify culturable bioaerosols in the indoor air of dental units in Lahore and assess their antibiotic resistance. Air samples were collected from 10 dental unit locations at different distances, with average concentrations of fungi and bacteria falling within intermediate ranges, per the Global Index of Microbial Contamination (GIMC/m3) index. The study found higher antibiotic-resistant strains in hospital dental units, particularly during winter. The most vigorous strain, S.aureus-NAJIH18, exhibited 70% resistance to ceftazidime. The research highlights the importance of quantifying microbial pollutants for evaluating their source and complexity. It suggests proactive mitigation techniques, such as focused cleaning and air filtration, to improve indoor air quality can mitigate the spread of antibiotic-resistant strains. These insights offer hope in combating the growing public health threat of antibiotic resistance.

KEYWORDS:

• Air microbiology
• antimicrobial susceptibility
• dental setting
• pathogenicity
• professional hygiene

Acknowledgements

We are incredibly grateful to all dental clinic and hospital professionals who allowed us to take air samples for this study during their routine practices and cooperated with us during their busy hours. The authors thank Dr Zain Gulzar, Director/Head of the Department of Medical Education, Watim Dental College & Hospital, Pakistan, for logistical support and conceptual discussion. The authors also acknowledge institutional support from the Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author’s contributions

Naseem Akhtar: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology; Arifa Tahir: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Resources, Validation, Visualization; Moneeza Abbas: Analytical support; Nasib Zaman: Data curation, Statistical analysis, Visualization, Review & Editing; Abdul Qadir: Analytical support, Software, Maps development; Muhammad Arshad: Statistical analysis, Validation, Visualization, Writing Review & Editing.

Consent to participate

All the authors have read and approved the manuscript and accorded the consent for publication.

Consent to publish

The paper is submitted with the mutual consent of the authors for publication in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research.

Data availability statement

Supplementary data are available online.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from public, commercial, or not-for-profit funding agencies.