Correlation of the presence of multi-resistant bacteria on domestic litter bins handles with the litter bin location

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the sanitary situation of handles of domestic litter bins in Patras city in the south west of Greece, as litter bins may be a matter of public health importance. Throughout the involved evaluation process we could assess the prevalence of bacteria on the handles of common public litter bins and in consequence, making a correlation of the percentages presence of microbes according to the location of the litter bin. Microbiological analyses were performed according to ISO methods. The study showed that 44% of the handles of litter bins were thriving with bacteria with more than 50cfu/10cm² area. Some of these different bacterial types were potential pathogenic, such as Staphylococcus spp., Enterobacteria spp., Aeromonas spp., Clostridium spp.. Also, in 10.1% of the samples, multi-resistant (>3antibiotics) bacteria were isolated. In addition, there is a significant correlation of the bin’s location with respect to the type of the isolated microorganism. We conducted this study because we could not find practical investigations about the number or types of microorganisms existed in the litter bins. Furthermore it reflects the possible risks for public health. We suggest that litter bins should be cleaned up and disinfected properly and systematically with the appropriate disinfectants to minimize the negative impacts on public health.

Keywords: Litter bin, garbage, public health, bacteria, antibiotic resistance