Evaluation of the Environment in Operating Theater and Delivery Unit and Neonatal Care Unit at Al-Zahra Hospital for Women and Children

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the efficiency of the sterilization process and the process of controlling contamination within the environment in AL- Zahra Hospital for women and children in AL- Muqdadiya located at Diyala province- Iraq, which extends at latitudes (-3.33 and -36.6) north and longitudes (-44.22 and 45.56) east, during the period from 25 December 2021 to 19 February 2022 due to deficiency of studies that are interested in this field. One hundred ninety - two of air sample was taken distributed to the hospital halls such as the surgical hall and its corridor that leads to it, the delivery hall and its corridor that leads to it, the sterile preterm unit and its corridor leds to it, the main hall of the units, and the air outside the hospital environment, where the samples were divided into two groups, the first one includes 96 samples collected in the morning before the beginning of work at 8 :00am and the second include 96 samples collected during the work at peak time 12:00 noon. The result was expressed by colony forming unit (CFU/m³). Bacterial microbial loads in hospital air ranged between 2-131 CFU/m3. Air bacterial loads in surgical hall ranged between 5-40, in a range 19.04 CFU/m3 and in the delivery hall ranged between 19-55.5, in a range 35.8 CFU/m3 and in the preterm infant hall 23.5-41.5, in a range30.5 CFU/m3 and in the main hall ranged between 34.5-89, in a range 60.4 CFU/m3 and in the outside air environment ranged between 39.5-115.5, in a range75.6 CFU/m3.

The variations between the two working groups was so that the rate was higher at noon compared to the morning group samples, with the rate of microbial load in the surgical unit in the morning 14.8 and evening 23.08, its corridor that leads to it in the morning 43.91 and evening 53.66 and the sterile preterm unit 22.91 evening 36.75, corridor that leads to it in the morning 27.5 and evening 40.8 the maternity hall in the morning 23 and evening 48.66, its corridor that leads to it in the morning 30.5 and evening 45.75. Main corridor hall in the morning 52.83 and evening 68.25 and air outside hospital environment in the morning 66.33 and evening 85 CFU/m3. Bacterial species isolated during the study were negative and positive bacteria for the gram stain, Staphyllococcus positive for gram stain recorded the highest isolation rate with 66 isolation rate 38%, and Staphylococcus epidermidis 54 isolation rate 31%. The negative bacteria of gram stain were isolated as follows, K.aerogens 24 isolation rate 14%, E. coli 16 isolation rate 9%, and K. pneumonia 8 isolations with isolation rate 5%, and the lowest isolation rate was Proteus species 4 isolations rate 2%. Contamination control swabs reached 100 swabs from non-living surfaces including the cesarean and delivery bed, flooring, ventilation outlets, anesthesia device, fluid withdrawal device, preterm incubators, ventilator and bandage cart, researcher was obtained the intestinal bacterial species, E. coli and K.aerogens 10 isolates in 38.5%, Pseudomonas 4 isolates in 15.4%, K. pneumonia 2 isolates in 7.7%.