Isolation and Identification of Airborne Pathogen from a General Hospital Wards in Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Nosocomial infection poses a significant and pervasive threat to human health, thereby remains a significant concern globally, with airborne pathogens contributing substantially to their transmission. This study was conducted to isolate and identify bacteria and fungi airborne pathogens of some selected wards at Yusuf Danstoho Memorial Hospital, Tudun Wada, Kaduna. The microbial quality of indoor air of five wards which include; Accident and Emergency (A and E) unit, Male Medical Ward (MMW), Male Surgical Ward (MSW), Female Medical Ward (FMW), and Female Surgical Ward (FSW) was conducted. Sedimentation technique using open Petri-dishes containing different culture media was employed, isolates were identified according to standard methods. The isolated bacterial species were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Micrococcus sp. from the study. Pseudomonas aeruginosa has the highest percentage occurrence of 28.89%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (24.24%), then Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.00%), while Escherichia coli (15.56%) and Micrococcus sp recorded the least (11.11%). Fungi isolates obtained were Aspergillus spp, Penicellium spp and Candida sp. with Aspergillus spp. having the highest occurrence of 52.94%, followed by Penicellium spp and Candida spp both with 23.52%. The accident and emergency ward (A & E) recorded the highest airborne bacterial and fungal population with 24.44% and 26.47% respectively. The results also showed that airborne bacterial pathogens were present in all the sampled hospital wards. These findings emphasize the need for stringent cleaning and ventilation measures in our hospitals to prevent nosocomial infections.