Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Airborne Fungal Spores in the Hospitals Environment of Ahvaz City (2016)

Invasive fungal infections acquired in the hospital have progressively emerged as an important cause of life-threatening infection. In particular, airborne fungi in hospitals are considered critical pathogens of hospital-associated infections.
This study aimed to investigate the airborne fungi of indoor environments of educational hospitals in the city of Ahvaz, Iran.
The air samples were taken from seven wards in five hospitals using Quick Take 30 sample pump. A total of 175 air samples were cultured into Sabouraud dextrose agar and incubated at 25°C for 7 to 10 days. Fungal species were identified by macroscopic and microscopic features. The number of airborne fungi was presented in colony-forming unit per cubic meter (CFU/m3).
A total of 2906 fungal colonies were isolated. The highest and least numbers of fungi were related to surgical (446 CFU/m3) and neonatal intensive care unit wards (103 CFU/m3), respectively. The most frequent fungal species was Cladosporium spp. (35.3%), followed by yeasts (27.3%), Aspergillus spp. (15.1%), Penicillium spp. (12.1%), and other fungal species (10.2%)
All wards under study were heavily contaminated with different types of fungi. Thus, it is suggested to monitor the indoor air to prevent possible hospital infections.