Bed Linen: A Reservoir Of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens

Abstract

The burden of community acquired infections in the health care system has continued to receive little or no attention especially among healthy, asymptomatic individuals. The aim of this study is to evaluate the bacterial burden of bed linens of undergraduate students living in a university hostel. Twenty-three (23) cotton-swab samples were collected aseptically from both the posterior and anterior end of the bed linen. Microbial isolates were isolated and characterized using standard microbiological and biochemical methods. The antibiotic susceptibility profile of the isolates was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. A total of nine (9) bacterial isolates were obtained from the samples, including Staphylococcus aureus (7) and Escherichia coli (2). Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that the majority of the isolates were resistant to cefuroxime, nitrofurantoin, ceftazidime, cefixime, erythromycin, and augmentin. All E. coli and  S. aureus strains showed 100% resistance to cefuroxime, ceftazidime and nitrofurantoin. However, both bacterial species were only most susceptible to gentamicin and ofloxacin, with E. coli demonstrating the least resistance (0%) to the two antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance of these isolates necessitates immediate attention.