title: A survey on species and prevalence rate of bacterial agents isolated from cockroaches in three hospitals.
abstract: The presence of cockroaches has health implications, such as nosocomial infection, as the insects move freely from areas within and around hospitals that may harbor pathogenic organisms. The goals of the present study were to determine species of bacteria isolated from cockroaches found in three Tehran hospitals, and to determine distribution of potential vectors by species and sex. The study is descriptive laboratory research. A total of 305 cockroaches from three species were trapped and identified: Periplaneta americana (65.6%), Blatella germanica (12.1%), and Blatta orientalis (22.3%). From these potential vectors, 19 species of bacteria were isolated and identified. After transportation of cockroaches to the laboratory, separation of the whole-homogenized suspension of each species was carried out. Identification of the isolated bacteria was performed according to Burgey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 9th Edition. The most common species of bacteria isolated from cockroaches were Escherichia coli, Streptococcus Group D, Bacillus spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus vulgaris. No statistical significance was found between sex and species of cockroach carrying bacteria (p > 0.05), but significance was found for sex in Citrobacter freundii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus non-group A&B (p < 0.05).
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Baqiyatallah, University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. alikarimi_in@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ali Akbar Karimi
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zarchi
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vatani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000635:transmission; D020048:Blattellidae / Q000382:microbiology; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000382:microbiology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D006092:Gram-Negative Facultatively Anaerobic Rods / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006761:Hospitals; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D010526:Periplaneta / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence