Association of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with bacteria in hospitals in the State of Santa Catarina.
The objective of this study was to identify ant occurrence in hospital environments in the State of Santa Catarina, along with associated bacteria. Ants were collected monthly from five inpatient clinics in two hospitals in the municipality of Chapecó, from August 2003 to June 2004. They were collected under aseptic conditions using swabs moistened with sterile distilled water and put into test tubes containing BHI for microbiological analysis. After 24 hours, cultures were made in both 5% sheep blood and MacConkey agar, which were incubated for 24 hours at 35/37 degrees C. The Gram characterization, culture identification and biochemical characterization followed standardized rules for clinical microbiology. Seven species of ants were identified, of which the most frequent were Monomorium pharaonis (71.5%) and Solenopsis saevissima (57%), and nineteen species of bacteria was isolated from hospital "A".
Lise
Fernanda
F
Departamento de Enfermagem Materno-Infantil, Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Garcia
Flávio Roberto Mello
FR
Lutinski
Junir Antônio
JA
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*; D001938:Brazil; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*