Identificación de enterobacterias en los servicios sanitarios femeninos pertenecientes a la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad Técnica de Ambato y su relación con el desarrollo de infección de vías urinarias

Abstract

The present research work is focused on isolating bacteria belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family from the restrooms of two study blocks of a higher education institution located in the city of Ambato, Ecuador, relating it to the development of Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) in female students attending the research site. It is crucial to understand how fomites can harbor pathogens whose pathogenicity mechanism is capable of causing disease. Through a cross-sectional, observational and descriptive study, 120 swabs of 5 areas of 25cm² taken from 12 toilets were cultured. Manual identification was performed using the IMViC method and the Vitek 2-Compact automated equipment. The results showed 22 positive samples (18.33%), of which 40.63% corresponded to Enterobacteriaceae, only 7.44%. Of the 22 positive samples, 32 bacterial colonies were isolated, of which 13 belonged to the Enterobacteriaceae family, distributed in Escherichia coli (n=9), Enterobacter aerogenes (n=1), Proteus mirabilis (n=1), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=1) and Morganella morganii (n=1). Also, a UTI prevalence of 20.68% was estimated in those students attending the health services from which the samples were taken. The importance of the adequate application of hygienic measures when using the restrooms, as well as proper cleaning and disinfection, is emphasized. This work lays the groundwork for future research related to the presence of microorganisms in potentially infection-causing fomites.