title: Microbiological analysis of environmental samples collected from child care facilities in North and South Carolina.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children cared for outside the home are at an increased risk of enteric disease. Microbiological analyses were performed on environmental samples collected from child care facilities in North and South Carolina.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 326 samples collected from 40 facilities corresponding to common surfaces (77% of samples) and the hands of care providers (23% of samples). Samples were analyzed for total aerobic plate counts (APCs), total coliforms, biotype I Escherichia coli, and pathogens Shigella spp, Salmonella enterica, E coli O157, Campylobacter jejuni, and human norovirus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median APCs and coliform counts for hands were 4.6 and 1.0 log10 colony-forming units (CFU) per hand, respectively. Median APCs for surfaces were 2.0 and 2.6 log10 CFU for flat and irregular surfaces, respectively. Coliforms were detected in 16% of samples, with counts ranging from 1.0 log10 to > 4.3 log10 CFU, with higher counts most often observed for hand rinse samples. Biotype I E coli counts were below assay detection limits (< 1 log10 CFU) for all but 1 sample. No samples were positive for any of the 4 bacterial pathogens, whereas 4 samples showed evidence of human norovirus RNA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relative absence of pathogens and biotype I E coli in environmental samples suggests the child care facilities sampled in this study managed fecal contamination well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.affiliation: Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Sheryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cates
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wohlgenant
authors.affiliation: Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. Electronic address: lajaykus@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Lee-Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jaykus
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017028:Caregivers; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D029322:Norovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009657:North Carolina; D013022:South Carolina
keywords: Childcare facilities; Day care; Enteric pathogens; Environmental sampling; Microbiological indicators