Improving hospital air quality to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infection: an analysis of microbial community

This study analyzed the structure and distribution of airborne bacterial communities in a hospital environment to explore their potential relationship with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). In summer and winter, a large-capacity total suspended particle (TSP) sampler was used to collect air microbial samples from 10 different hospital locations. DNA was extracted from the samples using a magnetic bead enrichment method followed by a rapid soil DNA extraction kit. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed to characterize microbial taxa, and sequences related to potentially pathogenic bacteria were screened by alignment to reference databases. The outpatient hall showed the highest relative microbial richness among the sampled areas. Sequences assigned to potentially pathogenic bacteria accounted for 2.19% of all sequences. Seasonal variation was observed; sequences assigned to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli were more abundant in summer, whereas sequences assigned to Streptococcus pneumoniae were more abundant in winter. These findings indicate that the complex airborne bacterial community in the hospital is influenced by location and season, highlighting the need for targeted infection prevention and air-quality management strategies. Because 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing has limited taxonomic resolution for some bacterial groups, species-level identification and pathogenicity inference should be interpreted with caution.