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Microbiological Contamination of the Office Environment in Dental and Medical Practice.

ABSTRACT: The microbiological contamination of the environment in independent healthcare facilities such as dental and general practitioner offices was poorly studied. The aims of this study were to describe qualitatively and quantitatively the bacterial and fungal contamination in these healthcare facilities and to analyze the antibiotic resistance of bacterial pathogens identified. Microbiological samples were taken from the surfaces of waiting, consulting, and sterilization rooms and from the air of waiting room of ten dental and general practitioner offices. Six surface samples were collected in each sampled room using agar contact plates and swabs. Indoor air samples were collected in waiting rooms using a single-stage impactor. Bacteria and fungi were cultured, then counted and identified. Antibiograms were performed to test the antibiotic susceptibility of bacterial pathogens. On the surfaces, median concentrations of bacteria and fungi were 126 (range: 0-1280) and 26 (range: 0-188) CFU/100 cm², respectively. In indoor air, those concentrations were 403 (range: 118-732) and 327 (range: 32-806) CFU/m³, respectively. The main micro-organisms identified were Gram-positive cocci and filamentous fungi, including six ubiquitous genera: Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Alternaria. Some antibiotic-resistant bacteria were identified in general practitioner offices (penicillin- and erythromycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), but none in dental offices. The dental and general practitioner offices present a poor microbiological contamination with rare pathogenic micro-organisms.

SUBMITTER: Baudet A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8614722 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Counterfeit and unapproved medicines are inherently dangerous and can cause patient injury due to ineffectiveness, chemical or biological contamination, or wrong dosage. Growth of the counterfeit medical market in developed countries is mainly attributable to life-style drugs, which are used in the treatment of non-life-threatening and non-painful conditions, such as slimming pills, cosmetic-related pharmaceuticals, and drugs for sexual enhancement. One of the main tasks of health authorities is to identify the exact active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in confiscated drugs, because wrong API compounds, wrong concentrations, and/or the presence of chemical contaminants are the main risks associated with counterfeit medicines. Serious danger may also arise from microbiological contamination. We therefore performed a market surveillance study focused on the microbial burden in counterfeit and unapproved medicines. METHODS: Counterfeit and unapproved medicines confiscated in Canada and Austria and controls from the legal market were examined for microbial contaminations according to the US and European pharmacopoeia guidelines. The microbiological load of illegal and legitimate samples was statistically compared with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS: Microbial cultivable contaminations in counterfeit and unapproved phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors were significantly higher than in products from the legal medicines market (p?<?0.0001). Contamination levels exceeding the USP and EP limits were seen in 23% of the tested illegal samples in Canada. Additionally, microbiological contaminations above the pharmacopoeial limits were detected in an anabolic steroid and an herbal medicinal product in Austria (6% of illegal products tested). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that counterfeit and unapproved pharmaceuticals are not manufactured under the same hygienic conditions as legitimate products. The microbiological contamination of illegal medicinal products often exceeds USP and EP limits, representing a potential threat to consumer health.

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Microbiological Contamination of the Office Environment in Dental and Medical Practice.

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