Bacterial Contamination in Intensive Care Unit at Al-Imam Al-Hussein Hospital in Thi-qar Province in Iraq

Cross- infection from patient to patient or from hospital personnel to patients represents constant hazards. It is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality especially in Intensive Care Unit all over the world. To identify the types and the source of bacterial contamination in ICU and to study the sensitivity of bacterial isolates to commonly used antibiotics in hospitals this study had been conducted in Al-Imam Al-Hussein hospital in Thi-qar province for the period from the 1(st) of September to the end of December 2011. A total of 320 swabs and samples were collected from 17 different sites of Intensive Care Unit environment and inoculated on a normal cultural media, then incubated at 37°C for 24 hour. The obtained growth revealed different bacterial colonies which had been tested for their morphological and biochemical characteristics. Sixty eight of pure isolates were obtained including 24 (35.29%) Gram positive bacterial isolates, and 44(64.71%) of Gram negative bacterial isolates, the highest rates (19.11%) of bacterial contamination had been found on the walls and the floor. Sensitivity tests for all isolates were done using 25 types of commonly used antibiotics in Iraq, among Gram negative bacteria and gram positive bacteria the genus Enterobacter spp and Staphylococcus spp respectively, showed the highest resistance to most of the tested antibiotics, MIC tests for 5 types of antibiotics being applied for the most resistant and the most sensitive isolates had identified that all isolates have a low rate of MIC against Ciprofloxacine. Bacillus spp and Enterobacter spp were the most prevalent bacterial contaminants of Intensive Care Unit environment. such contamination could be managed mostly by strict application of sterilization measures.