Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Indoor and Built Environment
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sudharsanam, S.
Right arrow Articles by Steinberg, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Study of the Indoor Air Quality in Hospitals in South Chennai, India — Microbial Profile

Suchithra Sudharsanam

Centre for Environmental Studies, College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600025, India, suchisanam{at}gmail.com

Padma Srikanth

Department of Microbiology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600116, India

Merline Sheela

Centre for Environmental Studies, College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600025, India

Ralf Steinberg

Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600116, India

A 3-month pilot study (February—April 2006) was conducted to determine the quality of indoor air in hospitals in the Tamil Nadu region of India and to characterize the predominant aerobic bacteria and fungi present. The main objectives were (1) to sample the indoor air of three different hospitals in Chennai for bioaerosols to generate baseline data using the Petri plate gravitational settling (passive) method of sampling; and (2) to isolate and identify potentially pathogenic organisms prevalent in the hospital environment. Indoor air samples were collected from various wards at the different hospitals and processed for the identification of various predominant bacteria and fungi. The overall counts of Gram-positive organisms were found to be higher than Gram-negative organisms. Of these isolates, Staphylococci and Micrococci were the predominant Gram-positive bacteria, while Klebsiella sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were the predominant potentially pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria isolated. Among yeasts and molds, Aspergillus niger and A. flavus were commonly isolated.

Key Words: Bioaerosols • Nosocomial infections • Air sampling • Settle plate • Ventilation

Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 17, No. 5, 435-441 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X08095568
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?