A cross-sectional study of the microbial profile of Health workers hands in Meknes Hospital

Background: Despite recent advancements in medicine and fundamental research, infectious diseases caused by transmissible pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotes remain a significant challenge for scientists and clinicians. Restrictions on the prompt and precise identification of diseases and the rise in antibiotic resistance worsen these difficulties. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the contamination of healthcare workers’ hands working in different departments of Meknes hospital, Morocco, as well as to examine the ability of hydroalcoholic solutions to eradicate different isolated pathogenic microbes. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of 60 days between July 2022 and August 2022. The samples were directly collected and analyzed at the laboratory of bacteriology. The bacteriological study was performed in the hands of 130 volunteer healthcare workers. Results: The treatment of results revealed that the positivity rate was 97.85%, and the identification of germs indicated that they belonged to a high polymorphism population. We separated 19,184 (CFU) colony-forming units from the samples taken from 260 hands. The average number of colony-forming units (CFU) was 74 CFUs/hand of the nursing staff. The bacteriological study resulted in the identification of: 6557 colonies of Staphylococcus aureus; 7342 colonies of Staphylococcus with Dance negative; 286 colonies of Escherichia coli; 1026 colonies of Klebsiella pneumonia; 1023 colonies of Acinetobacter spp, 272 colonies of Pseudomonas spp and 2678 colonies of yeasts and molds. The hands of healthcare personnel carry several pathogenic microorganisms. Conclusion: Handwashing and disinfection using hydro-alcoholic solutions are important for preventing harmful microbe transmission among healthcare workers and patients.