ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to evaluate the bacterial colonization of human hand. The study was conducted within MOUAU. A total number of one hundred (100) swab samples were collected at random from the dominant palm of one hundred (100) different students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike by swabbing the surface of their palms using a sterile swab sticks moistened with normal saline. All samples collected were transported to Microbiology laboratory Mouau immediately and cultured using the streak plate method on MacConkey agar, Blood agar, Mannitol salt agar and incubated for 24 hours at 37ᵒC for bacterial growth. The resulting colonies from the MacConkey agar, Mannitol salt agar and blood agar plates were purified by sub-culturing on freshly prepared nutrient agar plates. The plates were incubated at 35°C for 24hours. The antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was tested against the following antibiotics. Ofloxacin (10mcg), Peflacine (10mcg), Ciproflox (10mcg), Amoxycillin/Clavulanic (30mcg), Gentamicin (30mcg), Streptomycin (30mcg), Cephalexin (10mcg), Cotrimoxazole (30mcg) and Ampicilin (30mcg), using Kirby Bauer antibiotics disk method. Eight (8) different organisms were isolated which include; Staphylococcus aureus 13(13.8%), Bacillus sp 15(15.9%), Klebsiella sp 2(2.1%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4(4.3%), Streptococcus sp 19(20.2%), Coagulase negative staphylococcus 30(31.9%), Proteus sp 6(6.4%) and Escherichia coli 5(5.3%). Coagulase negative staphylococcus was the most frequently isolated organism as it has the highest percentage of occurrence whereas Klebsiella sp has the least percentage of occurrence. Sensitivity test was carried out and most of the isolates were sensitive to Ofloxacin (83.0%), Gentamicin (66.0%), Streptomycin (57.4%), Amoxycillin/Clavulanic acid (43.6%), Cotrimoxazole (40.4%),  Ceftriaxone (35.1%), Pefflacine (33.0%), and resistant to Ampicillin (28.7%), Cephalexin (27.7%) and. Ofloxacin is the drug of choice as a greater percentage of the isolates was sensitive to it, followed by Gentamicin. The spread of the microorganisms and the infection from human hands can be minimized by the use of hand sanitizers by the students, increased sanitary measures, strict adherence to regular hand washing with soap and antiseptics.