Culturable airborne bacteria and isolation of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci from outdoor environments on European side of Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

This study is aimed to investigate culturable airborne bacteria concentrations and the composition of methicillin-resistant staphylococci in eleven different locations on the basis of specifi c activities conducted within different parts of the European side of Istanbul. The highest bacterial levels were observed at the Bakirkoy station (1 100 CFU/m3 ) while the second highest levels were found at the Bahcelievler station (1 040 CFU/m3 ) in October; the lowest levels (10 CFU/m3 ) were measured at other different stations (Atakoy, Yesilkoy). Fifteen methicillin- -resistant isolates [Staphylococcus hominis (n=11), S. cohnii spp. cohnii (n=2), S. sciuri (n=1), S. capitis spp. capitis (n=1)] were identifi ed. The disc diffusion method was used to identify the antimicrobial resistance of these isolates, it was observed that the most common resistance was to penicillin (P) (n=11), doxycycline (DO) (n=4) and tetracycline (T) (n=5). None of the isolates was resistant to imipenem, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, vancomycin (IPM, AMC, VA). However, multiple antimicrobial resistance was found to be 26.7%. The results of this study revealed the importance of isolated methicillin-resistant staphylococci in the stations with densely active human population and traffi c, for public health. As a result, the importance of resting along known shorelines, where culturable airborne bacteria concentrations are much lower, and its importance for human health have been emphasized.