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E Nayar

Publications and source records attributed to E Nayar.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Nosocomial infections: cockroaches as possible vectors of drug-resistant Klebsiella.

The possibility that hospital cockroaches may act as vectors of drug-resistant Klebsiella spp. was investigated during Nov 1985 to April 1989, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital. Klebsiella spp. (majority Klebsiella pneumoniae) were isolated from 28.3% of hospital cockroaches and 28.1% of infected wounds of patients. Most of Klebsiella isolates from patients (96.3%), and hospital cockroaches (85.9%) showed multiple drug resistance to four or more antimicrobials. Similar strains of Klebsiella spp. were encountered among patients and hospital cockroaches. These findings suggest that hospital cockroaches may act as vectors of drug-resistant Klebsiella spp. and may contribute to the epidemiology of nosocomial infections.

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Cockroaches as vectors of pathogenic bacteria.

One hundred and thirty two cockroaches of species Blattella germanica--96 from hospital ward (test group) and 36 from residential areas (control group) were caught during Nov. 1985 to Nov. 1986. A variety of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria were isolated from test and control group of insects. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, and Micrococci were isolated only from the test group of cockroaches. A high percentage (98.95 per cent) of test cockroaches were found to be carriers of various microorganisms as compared to the control group (80.55 per cent), the difference being statistically significant (p less than 0.001). Quantitative analysis in this study revealed that higher number of microorganisms are carried by test group of insects in the hospital environment. This, thereby suggests that these insects can play an important role in the etiology of hospital acquired infections.

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