Investigation of the Multidrug Resistance Pattern of Bacteria Isolated from Car and Office Door Handles in a Tertiary Institution

Multidrug-resistant bacteria have posed a public health concern over the years, especially with the difficulty and cost of treatment of infections they cause. Fomites such as door handles are thus potent means through which pathogens are transmitted from one person to another as contact with them is made. This study thus involves isolating antibiotic-resistant bacteria from car and office door handles in a university environment. Using the simple random sampling method, twenty samples (20) from car door handles and twenty samples (20) from office door handles were collected, the isolation of bacteria was done using standard microbiological procedures and identification of the isolates was done using cultural, microscopic and biochemical characterization. Determination of the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the isolates was done using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar. Antibiotics used included Ofloxacin (5 µg), Gentamicin (10 µg), Ceftriaxone (30 µg), Augmentin (30 µg), Ciprofloxacin (5 µg), Erythromycin (5 µg), Streptomycin (30 µg) and Cloxacillin (30 µg). The results showed a significant frequency of occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus at 35% and Klebsiella pneumoniae having least at 5%. From car door handles, S. epidermidis recorded 37% while K. pneumoniae recorded the least with 17.4%. The isolates exhibited resistance to antibiotics including Augmentin and Ceftriaxone (≤22 mm) while they were more susceptible to Ofloxacin (≥16 mm). All the K. pneumoniae isolated from car door handles exhibited resistance to Augmentin and Ceftriaxone. These results show that these surfaces could be a possible reservoir of infections caused by resistant bacteria, leading to difficulty in the treatment of infections caused by them.