A Qualitative and Quantitative Survey on Air-Transmitted Fungal Contamination in Different Wards of Kamkar Hospital in Qom Iran in 2007

Abstract Fungi spores can be found everywhere. The amount and variety of fungal spores and their vast spread could be a preliminary step to the initiation of different diseases in people with different levels of health. In the present study six wards including nephrology internal ward for women surgery ward for men operating theater for E.N.T. ophthalmology infectious diseases ward and the laboratory were chosen for sampling on the basis of their types of activities and their in-patients. We used Anderson sampling method collected samples within two minutes with flow rate of 28.3 L/Min in sabouraud medium. Maximum contamination in the infectious diseases ward was 300 CFU/m3 and minimum contamination in E.N.T. was 94 CFU/m3. The maximum percentage of fungal spores in the hospital air was observed to be as follows: penicillin with 36.36% Cladosporium 24.74% A.niger 17.97% Rhizopus 10.57% and A.flavus 2.74A%. Fungal contamination concentration in hospital indoor air in this study was higher than the recommended limits and other similar studies from a quantitative point of view but it was similar to other studies in terms of identified species.