Bacterial and Fungal Contamination of Elevator Buttons in University Schools of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Background: The control of microorganisms in industrial and residential environments is the main concern regarding the spread of infectious diseases. Objectives: The current study aimed to isolate the bacteria and fungi from elevator buttons in the schools of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Methods: The study was a across sectional research. Samples were taken from elevator buttons in the schools of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Detection of the type of bacteria and fungi was done in blood agar, eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar and sabouraud dextrose agar according to the standard microbiological methods. Finally, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi were identified. Results: This study was conducted on 35 buttons from seven elevators in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences schools. All the samples showed bacterial contamination (100) with the kind of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria and all of them had Staphylococcus and Enterobacter species contamination. Schools of medicine, dentistry, management and medical information sciences had the highest bacterial contamination. On the other hand, fungal contamination was not detected in the samples. Conclusions: The study showed that elevator buttons could lead to transmission of pathogenic bacteria. It is necessary to clean and disinfect elevator buttons daily, especially in departments with high contamination potential such as laboratories, particularly in biological laboratories and pilot plant rooms.