Microbiological Assessment of Secondary School Toilets Wall and Door Handles in Ondo, Ondo State
[1]
Omoya Funmilola Oluyemi, Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
[2]
Ajayi Kehinde Oluyemi, Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
[3]
Kola-Oladejo Molape Omonike, Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
Toilet facilities among many other facilities ought to be present in secondary schools to promote hygiene and meet the physical and emotional needs of students. However, toilet wall and door handle could serve as fomite in the indirect transmission of infectious diseases, while toilet air microflora could enhance the direct transmission of infectious microorganisms. In this study, microbiological quality of secondary school toilets, types of microorganism and antibacterial susceptibility assay were carried out using standard microbiological methods. Swab sample were collected from toilet wall and door handles and agar plates were exposed to indoor and outdoor for the isolation of toilet air microflora. Total numbers of 160 samples were collected from six (6) secondary schools (A, B, C, D, E and F), A and B were boys school, C and D were girls only while E and F were co-educational schools. Microbiological assessment of toilet wall and door handle revealed zero staphylococcal and coliform counts in all the schools however, total bacterial counts of wall and door handle ranged from 1.03±0.11 to 4.06±0.02 and 1.04±0.06 to 7.04±0.05 cfu/10 cm2 respectively. The highest fungal counts was observed in door handle, the total viable bacterial counts ranged from 0.00±0.0 to 12.51±0.03 and 1.24±0.03 x102 to 40.01±0.21 x102 cfu/m3 in indoor and outdoor air microflora respectively. The fungal and staphylococcal counts of outdoor air microflora were significantly (p<0.05) higher than the indoor. The microorganisms isolated from toilet were; Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, B. polymyxa, B. alvei, B. cereus, S. epidemidis, Seratia sp. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and Rhizopus stolonifer in which the most frequently occurred bacterial were Bacillus subtilis and B. alvei while that of fungus was Rhizopus stolonifer. Staphylococcus aureus were less susceptible to amoxicillin, augmentin, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin. The presence of these microorganisms could have impact on the health and well-being of secondary school students in Ondo, Ondo State.
Microorganisms, Bacterial Counts, Fungal Counts, Air Microflora, Toilet
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