Comparative Assessment of Indoor Air of a Tertiary Hospital and a Public Secondary School in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Air bone transmission is one of the routes of spreading diseases responsible for a number of nosocomial infections [1]. Airborne microbial particles have negative effects especially on the health of immunocompromised people [2]. The infections are caused by aerosols which are small, viable and may remain suspend in the air stream over long period of time. This study was aimed at investigating and comparing the quality of indoor air of a tertiary hospital and a secondary school in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria. Air samples were collected in the hospital and school using settle plate techniques. Bacteria isolated from different wards in the hospital were Staphylococcus aureus , Coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Bacillus spp. , Klebsiella spp. , Micrococcus spp. , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas spp. , Acinebacter spp . The female surgical ward (FSW) had the highest degree of contamination of bacterial and fungal air borne while the bacterial isolates gotten from the school were heavy growth of Coagulase negative Staphylococcus and Bacillus spp. , and few growths of Klebsiella spp. and Acinebacter spp. with highest bacterial count in J.S.S.2B class. For fungal growth Aspergillus spp. and Mucor spp. produced numerous growths in all the classes and in the hospital while Penicillium spp. gave scanty growth. The lowest bacterial count observed both in school and in hospital was still high when compared with British bacteriological standard.