BACTERIAL FLORA OF COMMONLY USED SOAPS IN THREE HOSPITALS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACTObjectives: To obtain general information on soap use and soap bacterial fl ora, and to assess therisk of transmission of organisms from contaminated soap to patients.Design: Descriptive study.Setting: Three hospitals in an urban area of Lagos, Nigeria. A teaching (761 bed) hospital, a generalhospital (a 51 bed secondary healthcare facility) and a private hospital (a 30 bed private communitywith a surgical specialty).Results: Bar soaps were much more commonly used than liquid soaps. Out of the thirty six barsoaps and their receptacles studied, 19 (52.8%) were found wet, nine (25%) dry, fi ve (13.9%) very dry,and three (8.3%) in a pool of water. A total of 39% soaps and 75% of receptacles were contaminated.Thirty three percent of the dry soaps and 68.4% of the wet soaps were contaminated. None of thevery dry soaps and all in a pool of water were contaminated. The bacteria isolated from soapsincluded Pseudomonas aeruginosa (89.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (10.5%), while Pseudomonasaeruginosa (70.6%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (14.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (11.8%) and Serratiamarcescens (2.9%) were isolated from the receptacles. The antibiogram showed that the Pseudomonasaeruginosa isolated from the soaps and their containers (sinks) were distinct from those obtainedfrom colonised or infected wounds. The soap contamination rates correlated with the conditionsin which the soaps were kept.Conclusion: The type of soap containers in particular, played a vital role in keeping the soap dryor wet. In all the hospitals studied, the policies on soap use, if any, were not in agreement with therecommended guidelines. The healthcare workers need to be re-educated on these guidelines