ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIA FROM DOOR HANDLES IN MALE HOSTELS OF BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY,MAKURDI

ABSTRACT Door handles are often hotspots for bacteria on a daily basis,most especially public handlesespecially because of the frequent and inevitable use of most door handles. The aim of thisstudy was to determine the prevalence of bacterial contaminants associated with the doorhandles of male hostels in Benue State University, Makurdi. Sixty (60) door handles from theBenue State University male hostel first campus were swabbed using swab sticks moistenedwith normal saline. The specimens were inoculated directly on Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB)Agar, Manitol Salt Agar (MSA) and MacConkey agar (MCA). All the inoculated media wereincubated at 37°℃ for 18-24 hours. An overall bacterial contamination of door handles wasobserved to be 43(71.67%) which was statistically significant(x2=19.360;df=1;P=0.000).Three (3) bacterial isolates were observed which include: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcusaureus and Proteus sp. E. coli had the highest bacterial occurrence of 21 representing(50.00%). This was followed by S. aureus 12(28.57%) and Proteus sp which had the leastoccurrence of 9 representing 21.43%. There was a significant bacterial occurrence based on thebacteria isolated in the study area(x=13.460;df=2;P=0.001).The presence ofStaphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Proteus sp in the analyzed door handle samplesis an indication that public contact surfaces such as door handles are often colonized bypathogenic microorganisms and may serve as a potential source of infections. It is thereforerecommended that regular cleaningand disinfection of doors should be ensured. Regular handwashing should also be practiced by all students to reduce bacterial contamination.