VELEZ COLLEGE INC.

College of Medical Technology

F. Ramos St., Cebu City

RESEARCH ABSTRACT
Title: Prevalence of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi in the Air Conditioning Units in
the Hospital Rooms at Cebu Velez General Hospital
Proponents: Ignacio, L., Ilano, J., Jingco, A., Jugalbot, I., Jumamil, P., Katipunan, A., Lafuente,
L., Lee, P., Lim, H., Lingatong, C.,
Background: A research by Theodore Eickhoff had revealed that 10-15% of nosocomial
infections were caused by airborne sources with a striking mortality of 35-50%. The organisms
that were isolated from air conditioning units were mostly Gram Negative Rods such as those of
Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa but also included fungi such as Aspergillus
species. These organisms do not usually cause disease in a normal individual but produce
complications in patients who are immune-compromised.
Methodology: Samples from the different air conditioning units of Cebu Velez General Hospital
were inoculated into culture media. The microorganisms were isolated, identified, and determined
whether or not they are potentially pathogenic.
Objectives: The general objective of this study was to determine the presence of potentially
pathogenic microorganisms in the rooms of Cebu Velez General Hospital. The specific objective
of this study were to identify the potential pathogens isolated from the air conditioning units; to
determine the organisms isolated from the air conditioning units according to the type of rooms.
Study Design: The study design employed in this study was the Cross-Sectional Prevalence type.
Study Setting: The setting for this study was at Cebu Velez General Hospital. Sixty-four units
were included in this study.
Participants: There were no participants in this study.
Interventions: There were no interventions in this study.
Procedure: The culture of specimen is retrieved by directly exposing the media to the air-
conditioning units for 30 minutes. After which, the culture media were incubated under appropriate
conditions. The culture was then read and identified through an automated microbial identification
system under the supervision of the Microbiologist.
Data Analysis: The data collected in this study was analyzed by computation of the prevalence
rates and cross tabulation of the presence and absence of bacteria/fungi in the 3 types of hospital
rooms.
Results: Out of the 64 units, 52 units contain Staphylococcus aureus, 17 units contain
Staphylococcus epidermidis, 6 units contain Neisseria sicca, 42 units contain Pseudomonas
stutzeri, 19 units contain Micrococcus luteus, 45 units contain Cryptococcus tereus, 43 units
contain Candida guilliermondii, and 8 units contain Aspergillus niger. These microorganisms are
commonly found in air-conditioning systems but the presence of these in more than a three-
quarters of the studied units may imply insufficient cleaning protocols.
Conclusion: The microorganisms isolated and their prevalence were almost the same for all the
types of rooms in the hospital and they are all non-pathogenic but may pose a threat to
immunocompromised patients.
 VELEZ COLLEGE INC.
College of Medical Technology
F. Ramos St., Cebu City
ii

Recommendations: Further studies are recommended to determine the microbial load in the air
conditioning units to be able to know how much of the microorganisms are present and whether
the microbial load is infectious to patients especially the immunocompromised. Review of the
cleaning, disinfecting and maintenance protocols by the administration is also recommended.
Keywords: The keywords used in this study are: pathogenic, culture, isolated, culture media, and
air conditioning unit.