Isolation, Characterization, and Antibiotic Resistance Profile of Staphylococci from the Indoor Air of the Students' Halls of Residence at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: It has become a public health concern to evaluate the safety of the only readily consumable and unfiltered part of the biosphere, the air most especially from the densely populated region like the students' hostel. Aim and Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the colony-forming unit per unit volume of staphylococci obtained from the indoor air of students' halls of residence, their biochemical characteristics, and antibiotic resistance profile. Materials and Methods: The identification of isolates was based on the standard methods, such as colonial morphology, Gram stain reaction, catalase, and deoxyribonuclease tests, while antibiotic susceptibility profile was on standard disk diffusion method using the commercially available antibiotic discs (Abtek, Habdiscs) such as ciprofloxacin 5 μg/mL, gentamicin 10 μg/mL, and tetracycline 30 μg/mL. Results: A total of 26 staphylococci isolates were obtained from which none (0%), 4 (15%), and 10 (37%) of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tetracycline, respectively. Conclusion: It is observed that the year of discovery of these antibiotics has a nonlinear correlation with the recorded rate of resistance of the staphylococci to the antibiotics, which predicts an efficacy duration window of 104 years from the date of development. This finding predicts a future pattern of the antimicrobial resistance, which may pose a severe public health problem if antimicrobial stewardship measures are not put in place.