Assessment of Bioaerosol and Strain Identification of Major Microbes in the Long-term Care Facility
| Autor: | Hao-Han Lin, 林昊翰 |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 104 Due to the rapidly growth of elder population, the demographic structure has changed and result in an increasing demand for long-term care services. People who need long-term care services are either elders or suffering from severe diseases. Considering the immunity and health status of these sensitive population are usually insufficient, it is important to monitoring the environmental quality of long-term care facilities. This study has the aims to investigate the indoor air quality (IAQ) as compare with Taiwan EPA's recommended level and identify dominant microbes in two different types of long-term care center including an elder care center and nursing home. The results showed that concentrations of CO2、CO and HCHO measured in elder care center ranged from 455-818 ppm (recommended level 1000 ppm), ND-0.49 ppm (recommended level 9 ppm), and ND-0.4 ppm (recommended level 0.08 ppm), respectively. Except CO, concentrations of CO2 and HCHO in nursing home ranged from 540-1537 ppm and ND-1.373, and exceeded regulatory standards occasionally. Furthermore, concentrations of airborne bacteria in elder care center ranged from 21-1375 CFU/m3 (recommended level 1500 CFU/m3) while most measurements of fungi exceeded the EPA's reference level 1000 CFU/m3 (1438-4756 CFU/m3). The elder care center is located in rural area and surround with abundant plants as a major source of fungi. Due to the frequently opened windows and doors in the center, it is found that the indoor concentrations of fungi varied consistently with those measured outdoors. Concentrations of fungi measured in the nursing home which is located in suburban area were 44-1392 CFU/m3 and lower than those measured in the elder care center. In addition, concentrations of airborne bacteria in nursing home were between 122-14332 CFU/m3, while the high exceedance of bacterial levels was observed in a particular bedroom. There is no obvious fungal contamination problems in the nursing home since a central air conditioning system is applied for ventilation and levels of fungi outdoors were low. Nevertheless, highly bacterial levels frequently measured in the specific bedroom indicates that there was a significant bacterial source. To protect the residents from health effects, it is strongly suggested that the nursing home should investigate the emission source and practice remediated actions to control the microbial pollution. To understand the distribution of indoor dominant microbes, the strain identification was performed on bacteria and fungi using 16S rRNA and Internal Transcribed Space (ITS)1/4 rDNA sequence, respectively. The main bacterial strains were Staphylococcus spp. and Acinetobacter spp. in the nursing home and elder care center, respectively. Staphylococcus spp. mostly are non-pathogenic bacteria, but there are a few pathogens. Acinetobacter spp. are opportunistic pathogens and may have considerable threat for sensitive groups. Penicillium spp. is the major fungal strain in both nursing home and elder care center. Most of Penicillium spp. are unable to produce mycotoxins, but vigorous growth of Penicillium spp. usually accompany proliferation of other harmful fungi. Keywords: Long-term care, Fungi, Bacteria, Strain identification |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
| Externí odkaz: |
|