Disposal habits and microbial load of solid medical waste in sub-district healthcare facilities and households in Yilo-Krobo municipality, Ghana

The study aimed to assess disposal practices and quantify the microbial load present in SMW from ten sub-district level healthcare facilities and 385 households in Yilo Krobo municipality, Ghana. Disposal of solid medical waste (SMW) was assessed by questionnaire-based surveys, unstructured interviews and field observations. Microbiological analysis identified species and counts of bacteria present in SMW from both sources. Sociodemographic factors influencing the method of SMW disposal in households were evaluated using logistic regression analysis, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. Open burning (29%), burying (25%) and disposal at a dumpsite (49%) were common methods used by households to discard SMW. SMW disposal at a dumpsite was associated with age of respondents in households. Older people (50+ years) were three times more likely to place SMW in household waste later discarded at a dumpsite, compared to younger persons (20–30 years) [a0R, 95%CI = 3.37, 1.41–8.02]. In sub-district level healthcare facilities, open burning and burying were the most common methods used. Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium tetani, Enterococcus faecalis, Acinetobacter spp. Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and Enterococcus faecium) were bacteria identified in SMW recovered from both the healthcare facilities and the households. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter spp. and Clostridium tetani were found exclusively in untreated SMW generated in the healthcare facilities. Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were found in one sample of treated SMW. The microbial load in SMW from healthcare facilities and households ranged from 0.036 x 103cfc/mg to 0.167 x 103 cfc/mg and from 0.118 x 103cfc/mg to 0.125 x 103cfc/mg respectively. This highlights the need for institutionalizing appropriate treatment methods in sub-district level facilities or strengthening the linkages with higher level facilities to ensure regular and adequate treatment of SMW. Public guidance on management of SMW generated in households which is context specific should also be provided.

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Isolation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from Clinical Samples in Some Hospitals in Shiraz, Iran

Clinical and Experimental Investigations ◽

10.31487/j.cei.2020.03.01 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Majid Baserisalehi ◽

Samira Zarezadeh ◽

Majid Baserisalehi ◽

Saeed Shoa

Keyword(s):

Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia ◽

Enterobacter Aerogenes ◽

Late Summer ◽

Early Spring ◽

Clinical Samples ◽

Bacillus Species ◽

Microbiological Analysis ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Phenotypic Methods

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging pathogenic non-fermentative Gram-negative Bacillus species. It has caused many nosocomial infections and can be isolated from various hospital wards and healthcare facilities. Research has shown that most of its strains are inherently resistant to many antibiotics and have multidrug resistance. This research intended to determine its occurrence frequency at some Hospitals in shiraz, Iran. The present study was conducted in six months (from early spring to late summer 2019). Clinical samples (Blood, Urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)) collected from 120 patients afflicted with various infections. The samples were transferred to the Laboratory and subjected to microbiological analysis. Identification of the isolates was carried out by phenotypic methods and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates verified using molecular methods. In total, various bacteria were isolated from 84 clinical samples. The isolates were Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was isolated from 17 (20.2%) positive samples and most of them were isolated from blood samples. Our finding indicated that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated more from blood samples follow by CSF sample. In addition, our finding illustrated that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia can be considered as the common nosocomial agent at hospitals in Shiraz, Iran.

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People’s awareness on effects of open burning of household waste in Kinondoni Municipality, Dar-es-Salaam

Dar Es Salaam Medical Students Journal ◽

10.4314/dmsj.v15i1.52494 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Author(s):

P Israel

Keyword(s):

Dar Es Salaam ◽

Household Waste ◽

Open Burning

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Optimization of Transportation for Hazardous Waste Disposal from Medical Units

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.811.378 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 811 ◽

pp. 378-382

Author(s):

Mihaela Debita ◽

Carmina Liana Musat ◽

Madalina Rus ◽

Elena Mereuta ◽

Claudiu Mereuta

Keyword(s):

Hazardous Waste ◽

Waste Disposal ◽

Medical Waste ◽

Transportation Costs ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Final Disposal ◽

Hazardous Waste Disposal ◽

A Company ◽

Technical Considerations

The paper presents some technical considerations regarding the medical waste transportation and an optimization calculus for minimizing the transportation costs of a company specialized and authorized in collecting, transporting and final disposal of medical waste generated by healthcare facilities. The calculus revealed that it is possible to significantly reduce the transportation costs (up to 65.52%), but there are also other analysis possibilities like considering the in-between points from sources to destinations, alternative paths, limits to the amount of medical waste on each path, time.

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Assessment of Microbial Load of Un-pasteurized Fruit Juices and in vitro Antibacterial Potential of Honey Against Bacterial Isolates

The Open Microbiology Journal ◽

10.2174/1874285801509010026 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 26-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Muhammad Naeem Iqbal ◽

Aftab Ahmad Anjum ◽

Muhammad Asad Ali ◽

Firasat Hussain ◽

Shahzad Ali ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antibacterial Activity ◽

Viable Count ◽

Fruit Juices ◽

Microbial Load ◽

Resistant Bacteria ◽

Klebsiella Pneumonia ◽

Street Vendors ◽

Permissible Limits ◽

Development Of Resistance

The development of resistance in bacteria against commonly used antibiotics/drugs is of considerable medical significance. Aim of this study was to determine the microbial load of un-pasteurized packed fruit juices sold in Lahore city and to determine antibacterial activity of five different honey samples against isolated bacteria. Unpasteurized fruit juice samples (n=60) were collected from street vendors. All the samples were subjected to Total viable count (TVC), Staphylococcal count (SC) and Coliform count (CC). One hundred and ten strains of bacteria were isolated from various fruit juices and identified on the basis of cultural characters, morphology and biochemical characters. Mean TVCs, SCs and CCs of juices (6.80±1.91, 5.45±1.06 and 3.25±1.25 log10 CFU/ml respectively) were non-significant with standard permissible limits (p<0.05). Among all the fruit juices, 66.66% of samples had TVC more than 4 log10 CFU/ml, 51.66% of samples had SC more than 3 log10 CFU/ml and 46.66% of samples had CC more than 2 log10 CFU/ml. Among the bacillus isolates purified, were Bacillus alvei, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus polymyxa, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli and Enterobecter. All five different types of honey samples used in this study showed antibacterial activity against B. alvei, B. polymyxa, B. subtilis and S. aureus and no activity against P. aeruginosa, K. pneumonia, Enterobecter and E. coli. It is concluded that microbial load in unpasteurized fruit juices is significantly higher than standard permissible limits which insinuates its possible role in spoilage and food borne illnesses. Periodic monitoring of packed fruit juices should be carried out to make them safe for consumption. Honey can be used as an alternative for treatment of various infections, especially those caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria.

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Microbial load of healthcare wastes in Aba Metropolis, Abia State

International Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing Practice ◽

10.47941/ijhmnp.557 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 17-23

Author(s):

Elendu, C. Onwuchekwa ◽

Anaele, C. C. ◽

Emeonye, O. P. ◽

Felix C. J. ◽

Ikechukwu-Okoroezi, J. ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Viable Count ◽

Microbial Load ◽

Microbial Count ◽

Unique Contribution ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Healthcare Waste ◽

Microbiological Techniques ◽

Hospital Wastes ◽

Laboratory Waste ◽

The Government

Introduction: Healthcare waste is the total waste both solid and liquid from healthcare establishment and laboratories. A hospital produces waste by giving their services to the patients. Purpose: This study examined the microbial load of waste from selected healthcare facilities in Aba metropolis, Abia State. Methodology: Tenfold serial dilution was used for processing of all the samples. After the dilutions, exactly 0.5ml of each the sample was planted on the media using the spread plate method and evaluated using the standard microbiological techniques. Results: The viable count (TVC) ranged from 1.0×103cfu/g to 0.3×108cfu/g, coliform count (TCC) ranged from 0.4×102 cfu/g to 4.2×104 cfu/g, staphylococcal count (TSC) ranged from 1.0×101 cfu/g to 1.4×102 and fungal counts ranged from 2.0×102 cfu/g to 0.8×103cfu/g in the microbial count of various waste samples within the Aba metropolis, Abia State. The laboratory waste had the highest microbial counts, followed by the Out-patient department waste and the least was the pharmaceutical waste. The microorganisms isolated from the hospital wastes were Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger, A. Fumigatus, Candida albicans and among others. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: This research has revealed that healthcare waste contained pathogens with high microbial load densities, suggesting that the hospital wastes may pose a major health and environmental threat, if not properly managed. The study recommends that, the government should ensure that there is a policy on hospital waste management in line with recommended international best practices, which should be monitored and enforced.

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Identification of pathogenic bacteria from food handling surfaces (tabletops) from different areas with demonstration of their drug resistance properties

Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene ◽

10.18502/jfsh.v5i3.5693 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anik Paul ◽

Md. Mahmud Rahma ◽

Tasnia Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Fast Food ◽

Pathogenic Bacteria ◽

Klebsiella Oxytoca ◽

Food Contamination ◽

Antibiotic Sensitivity ◽

Klebsiella Pneumonia ◽

Microbiological Analysis ◽

Food Handling ◽

Salmonella Spp ◽

Esherichia Coli

Foodborne illness is generally caused after consumption of food contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. Food contamination often caused by contact with tabletops or food handling surfaces where the pathogenic microbes are present due to unhygienic condition of people working there and the overall environment of the food serving area. In current study, four areas (local restaurants, fast food shops, university canteens and hospital canteens) were selected for collection of swab sample (per cm2 area) from the tabletops. Five samples from each area were taken for further studies. After microbiological analysis we found ten different types of bacteria (Esherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Klebsiella oxytoca, Corynebacterium xerosis, Staphylococcus aures, Salmonella spp., Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, pseudomonas aeruginosa and Alcaligenes fecalis) which are already considered to be pathogenic bacteria causing different health issues in immune-compromised and also in healthy consumers. These bacteria were then subjected to antibiotic sensitivity test using ten antibiotics-Vancomycin (30 µg), Cotrimoxazol (30 µg), Azithromycin (15 µg), Gentamicin (10 µg), Amoxycillin (10 µg), Cephradine (30 µg), Ceftriaxone (30 µg), Cefuroxime (30 µg), Cefoxitin (30 µg) and Tetracycline (30 µg). Bacterial isolates collected from university and hospital canteens showed most resistance towards these antibiotics. Strict maintenance of proper sanitation and hygiene starting from personal aspects to the overall environment of food handling service should be maintained to reduce the food contamination and foodborne disease.

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ENVIRONMENTAL-LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE-LEGAL ASPECTS OF MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL

International scientific journal Internauka Series Juridical Sciences ◽

10.25313/2520-2308-2021-10-7604 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Iryna Lychenko ◽

Keyword(s):

Waste Disposal ◽

Administrative Support ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Action Plan ◽

Legal Aspects ◽

Medical Waste ◽

Household Waste ◽

Law Enforcement Agencies ◽

Important Place ◽

Source Of Infection

The article analyzes the environmental, legal and administrative aspects of medical waste disposal during the Covid-19 pandemic in Ukraine. The substantiation of priorities of improvement of ecological-legal and administrative-legal maintenance of procedure of utilization of medical waste during the Covid-19 pandemic is presented. It is emphasized that the state takes a number of measures to reduce mortality from this disease, while increasing the negative impact on the environment of medical waste generated as a result of vaccination, disease prevention, diagnosis, inpatient treatment of this disease. Their uncontrolled disposal together with household waste has a negative impact on the environment, polluting land and water resources, is a dangerous source of infection. It is established that the environmental, legal and administrative support of the medical waste disposal procedure during the Covid-19 pandemic is related to the formation of the regulatory framework for medical waste management, including collection, transportation, storage, sorting, processing (processing), disposal, removal, and effective activities of public administration and law enforcement agencies to monitor this process. The facts of successful counteraction of such bodies to illegal activity concerning transportation, storage, utilization of medical waste are emphasized. It was found that many problems in this area are due to insufficient funding of the medical sector. The need to implement effective administrative and legal measures, especially control and supervision of economic entities for the disposal of medical waste, to regulate in detail the procedure for medical waste disposal, to devote an important place to this issue in the National Environmental Action Plan until 2025, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of April 21, 2021 № 443-r and to strengthen the administrative liability of licensed organizations for the provision of medical services for violations in this area. It is recognized that in such conditions it is extremely important to adapt EU legislation on medical waste disposal to Ukrainian realities.

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