“News on air!” - Air surveillance report from intensive care units of a tertiary care hospital

Background: The role of airborne microorganisms in the nosocomial infections is debatable since past. Very limited and inconclusive data available about the contribution of the air microflora, especially the multidrug resistant (MDR) one, to the hospital-acquired infections in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Objective: To analyze the microbial population and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the indoor air in relation to the nosocomial infections in the different ICUs at different periods in the tertiary care hospital. Methods: Microbial monitoring of the air was performed in 5 different ICUs for 1 year by passive sampling method. Results: A total of 221 air samples were collected for 1 year from five different ICUs. 92.53% were Gram-positive bacteria and 8.11% were Gram-negative bacteria. Staphylococcus spp. (34.21%) and Acinetobacter spp. (63.04%) were the most common isolated bacteria among Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms, respectively, and among the fungal isolates, all of them were Aspergillus spp. (5.84%) from the air sample. Ventilator-associated pneumonia was the most common nosocomial infection and Acinetobacter spp. was the frequently isolated MDR organism. Conclusion: Air could be the major source of nosocomial infections by MDR Gram-negative organisms in the ICUs which require special attention and surveillance.