Bacterial contamination and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of intensive care units medical equipment and inanimate surfaces at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE: To determine bacterial contaminants and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns from medical equipment and inanimate surfaces. RESULTS: Of 130 swabs, 115 (88.5%) swabs were culture positive, of which contaminated medical equipment and inanimate surfaces account 70 (83.3%) and 45 (97.8%), respectively. All the swabs collected from sphygmomanometer, bedside table, computer and computer standing tables were 100% contaminated with bacteria. From the culture-positive swabs, a total of 171 bacterial isolates were identified, out of which 117 (68.4%) and 54 (31.6%) isolates were gram-positive and gram-negative, respectively. Most isolates (82%) were resistant to ampicillin and 13%, 8.6%, and 14% was observed in ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tetracycline respectively. Multi-drug resistant was observed in Escherichia coli (72.7%) and Staphylococcus aureus (58.7%).