STUDY OF PREVALENCE OF BACTERIAL EXAMINATION OF USED MICROPHONES IN PUBLIC PLACES WITHIN POPULATED CENTERS, YENAGOA METROPOLIS

Microphones are commonly used in churches, schools, seminars, ceremonies and public gatherings. Bacterial contamination of microphones is a major health hazard and plays an important role in the transmission of different diseases in public gatherings, schools and churches The study was designed to examine bacteria prevalence on used microphones in public places at strategic social functions in Opolo, Yenagoa Bayelsa State, Nigeria. A total of 40 microphones were sampled randomly from Worship centers and social functions. Twenty (20) Microphones were collected from worship centers and twenty (20) from social functions in Opolo, Yenagoa Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Two (2) Microphones each were collected per worship center and social functions. Each microphones collected were swabbed with saline, the swab sticks were transferred into a sterile sample collection bottle containing a normal saline in an ice-bag and transported immediately to the Microbiology laboratory for bacteriological analysis, following a standard method described by cheesbrogh. Results showed that potential bacteria were associated with the surface of the microphones. Bacteria identified were mostly from the family of Enterobacteriaceae (Escherichiacoli), Pseudomonadaceae (Pseudomonasaerogenosa), Bacillaceae (Bacillus cereus), streptococcaceae (Streptococcus spp) and Staphylococcaceae (Staphylococcus aureus). Some of these bacteria identified are normal flora or oral bacteria, opportunistic bacteria; some are pathogenic bacterium.