Isolation of bacterial diversity present in medical waste and health care settings in hospitals in Kenya

Nosocomial infections have impacted great burden in healthcare system and has led to deteriorating health condition and deaths. This study characterizes medically important bacterial diversity, isolated from staff hands, hospital surfaces and wastes in healthcare settings in Kenya during a one year period. Descriptive cross sectional hospital based study design and simple random sampling method was used to collect 246 samples from 10 sections in each hospital, using sterile cotton swabs and processed in the laboratory. Colony morphology and biochemical characterization was also recorded and confirmation of Enterobactericeae using API-20E test for later study of ESBL resistant genes was done. Statistical analysis was done using Microsoft Excel and ANOVA. The study highlighted the presence of Providentia rettgeri (21.01%), Staphylococcus aureus (18.47%), Escherichia coli (13%), other Gram negatives (9.55%), Pseudomonas aeuriginosa (9.3%), coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CONS) (9.12%), Serratia marcescens (6.58%), Klebsiella pneumonia (6.36%), Proteus vulgaris (4.03%) and Enterobacter cloaca (3%). Most nosocomial infections especially urinary tract infections are caused by these bacteria. It is necessary for hospitals to implement most of the recommended measures in this study to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens via contaminated hospital surfaces and sites.