CULTIVATION OF MICROORGANISMS FOUND ON SURFACES AND MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS

Contamination by pathogenic microorganisms may be related to the contact with inanimate surfaces such as surfaces of toilets, door knobs, drinking fountains, stair rails, faucets, besides poor hand hygiene. These behaviors can lead to contamination by pathogenic bacteria and can subsequently contaminate the individual at the time of oral feeding, or by hand contact with the mouth for other reasons, as well as contact with the nose and the eyes. This work aims to demonstrate the presence of microorganisms on surfaces in which several individuals come in contact daily, emphasizing the importance of hand hygiene and the cleaning of the surfaces that several people come into contact with. The existence of microorganisms was analyzed on the stair rail and the bathroom switch. A rayon swab was used to collect the material from each analyzed surface, which was smeared on blood agar plaques. Gram stain materials were used to stain colonies and optical microscopy for their observation and analysis. The plaques were observed after a week; as a result several colonies of varying size and coloration were found: large and small white ones, gray, yellow and still a giant gray and yellow colony. Each colony was analyzed separately, in which Gram staining was done. It resulted generally in gram positive and negative cocci and gram positive and negative bacilli. The microorganisms found can often cause infectious diseases when ingested or when they invade sterile anatomical sites. In conclusion, these surfaces present accentuated bacterial growth with different types of microorganisms, pathogenic and nonpathogenic; besides, they have high frequency of contact of the individuals with these surfaces, increasing the vulnerability to infections. So, the need for antisepsis of the hands by individuals is emphasized, as well as the asepsis of surfaces that countless people contact with daily.