Abstract

This stu y eva uae t e actcrial contamination of toilet door handles of public offices within, Umudi e, ia a e. tota ten (10) public offices were randomly selected within Umudike and its envlions 01 e puipose of the study, from which two (2) samples were collected and culture on utnent gm. lacConkey Agar, Xylose Lysine Deoxychlorite agar and Mannitol Salt Agar using sPrea P techniques. From the result obtained in this study, six (6) bacteria species were isolated and identified from the door bandies. This reveals the major bacterial species to be Escherichia coli. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella specips, Proteus species, Pseudomonas species and Klebsiella spp. Regarding the total viable microbial counts evaluated in this 6 study, it was revealed that the Admin Block had the highest bacteria count (3.9x1 O^cfu/ml). while the least was recorded for LinnC laboratory and MOUAU clinic at (1.2x10 clu/ml) each. From the findings in this study, it was observed that Staphylococcus aureus 22(j5.4%) was the most frequently occurring isolate followed by Salmonella species 13(20.9%) while the least was recorded for Proteus species 4(6.4%). Indications from the antibiotic sensitivity test, showed that the antibiotics; Gentamicin (lOmcg), Ciprofloxacin (lOmcg). Erythromycin (30mcg). Chloramphenicol (30mcg), and Ampiclox (20mcg), whose mode of action involves the inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis of bacteria, were the most effective antibiotics tested against the isolates. In contrast, Streptomycin 30mcg, Erythromycin 30mcg. Septrin 20mcg, Chloramphenicol 30mcg and Levofloxacin 20mcg were not effective against Escherichia coli. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella spp and Proteus mirabilis. Conclusively, the isolation of pathogenic bacteria from the toilets door handles in this study indicates that they could be vehicle of disease transmission. Therefore, recommended that public office management should at least provide hand sanitizers to the users or spray disinfectants with regular cleaning ofthe toilets to ensure reduction in microbial load.