MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF AIR AT DIFFERENT SECTIONS WITHIN SPIRITAN UNIVERSITY, NNEOCHI, ABIA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

Airborne diseases have been described among debilitating ailments that are ravaging the health of mankind, especially individuals whose immune functions are deficient.  This study was carried out to evaluate microbial quality of air at different confined environments at Spiritan University, Nneochi, Abia State. Microbial quality of air at different sections at the University was evaluated using passive method. Three prepared Petri dishes containing different selective media were exposed for 60 min at 10 selected areas. The outcome of the air sampling revealed the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6(25.00%), Staphylococcus auerus (4(16.67%), Escherichia coli (3(12.50%), Streptococcus species (3(12.50%), Aspergillus fumigatus (5(20.83%), and Aspergillus niger (3(12.50%). The highest microbial load was observed at the University Clinic (83.33 Cfu/m³ for bacteria/ 4.17 Cfu/m³ for fungi) while the least was observed at the Senate Chamber and Canteen (25.00 Cfu/m³ for bacteria/ 2.50 Cfu/m³ for fungi). The microbial load in all the sections sampled was within small and medium as stipulated by the European Community Commission (ECC). All the bacteria showed complete haemolysis on blood agar except Streptococcus species and A. niger that showed partial haemolysis. The susceptibility pattern revealed that P. aeruginosa yielded highest resistance against Ciprofloxacin 5(23.80) while Cassyntha filiformis extract showed the highest potency (5(23.80) against all the pathogens with zero resistance. This study has shown that pathogenic bacteria and fungi are found at different sections at Spiritan University, Nneochi.