Indoor Microbiome and Antibiotic Resistance on Floor Surfaces: An Exploratory Study in Three Different Building Types

Mridula Gupta, Seungjun Lee, Michael Bisesi and Jiyoung Lee
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Mridula Gupta: College of public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Seungjun Lee: College of public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Michael Bisesi: College of public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Jiyoung Lee: College of public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-11

Abstract: Floor materials in indoor environments are known to be reservoirs of microbes. We focused on examining bacterial community composition, antibiotic resistance (AR) and microbial source tracking (MST) of fecal bacteria on the floor surfaces. Swab samples were collected from carpet and vinyl floors in three different buildings (medical, veterinary, and office buildings) from high and low traffic areas. Bacterial communities were determined with 16S rRNA sequencing, and AR (tetracycline ( tet Q), sulfonamide, and carbapenem (KPC)) and MST (human-, canine-, avian-, and ruminant-specific fecal bacteria) were examined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results show that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most abundant phyla. Traffic level significantly affected the number of operational taxonomic units. Traffic level was a key factor for distinctive bacterial community in the medical center. Targeted ARGs were detected from all buildings and tet Q concentration was related with traffic level, and KPC was only detected from the medical center. Most of the floor surfaces showed the presence of dog-specific fecal bacteria (83%) followed by bird-specific fecal bacteria (75%). The results suggest that traffic levels affected the bacterial levels and fecal contamination is prevalent on the floor surfaces. This is the first study that reports KPC presence on the floor surfaces.

Keywords: traffic level; floor types; carbapenem resistance; hospital; microbial source tracking; dog-specific fecal bacteria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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