Molds Isolated in Selected Intensive Care Units of the Philippine General Hospital

Abstract

Molds are found outdoors as well as in indoor environments such as in hospitals where they are present as nosocomial pathogens. This study aims to determine the different molds present in various ICUs of the Philippine General Hospital, compare the different molds obtained using two different sampling methods and to detect any patterns in their presence in the samples collected from the different areas of the ICUs. Collection of mold specimen was conducted using the capture plate method and the surface sampling method. The isolates were cultivated in potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated for five days at ambient temperature prior to cultural and morphological characterization. The identification of molds were up to Class level and at most, Genus level. Only identified molds were compared in terms of the sampling method used, type of ICU and sampling areas. From a total of 119 isolates, a total of 22 genera were identified. Some molds were isolated using both sampling methods but most of the molds were isolated by capture plate method only. Molds were isolated using the Capture Plate Method and Surface Sampling Method depending on the type of spores. The molds isolated using capture plate method had dry spores which were easily carried by wind and dust particles while those isolated using surface sampling method were slimy and are therefore found on the indoor surfaces. The most number of genera among the four ICUs were from the Burn Unit. Also, there were certain molds that were only isolated from one specific ICU, such as Acremonium sp., Coccidioides sp., and Geotrichum sp. which were all from the Bum Unit. The presence of these molds indicates probable soil-contamination of the ICUs because these molds are predominantly soil-borne. Of the various sampling areas, the floor yielded the most number of mold genera. Aspergillus sp. and Pemcilliwn sp. were the most predominant genera in the different target areas of the ICUs since the airborne nature of their spores which find their way indoors, into the ICUs, and possibly contaminate the target areas which provide adequate nutrition and moisture. All ICUs sampled contain medically important molds may pose risks for ICU-acquired mold infection.