Background and Objective: The presence of fungal bioaerosols in hospitals indoor environments have affected the health of patients with the defect in immunity system. Therefore, determination of the rate and species of these agents is essential. This study aimed to investigate association between fungi contamination and particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1) concentrations in the main indoor wards and outdoor environment and to determine I/O ratio in two educational-medical hospitals of Khorramabad City.
Materials and Methods: In this description-analytical study, the concentration of fungal bioaerosols and particulate matter was measured in 10 indoor parts and 2 outdoor stations over 6 mounts. The sampling was conducted using Quick Take-30 at an airflow rate of 28.3 L/min and sampling period of 2.5 min onto Sabouraud dextrose agar medium containing chloramphenicol. The particulate matters were measured using Monitor Dust-Trak 8520. Moreover, the relative humidity and temperature were recorded using digital TES-1360.
Results: Analysis of 288 fungi samples and 864 particulate matter samples showed that the average of fungi accumulation was 59.75 CFU/m3 and the mean concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in the indoor environment was 27.3, 23, and 20.2 µg/m3 respectively. In addition, in ambient air the mean concentration was 135.3 CFU/m3 for fungal bioaerosols and 40.2, 35.7, and 29.8 µg/m3 for PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 respectively. At the total of fungi samples, 12.5% were negative and 87.5% were positive. Having 101.7%, Infection ward was the most contaminated ward. The operation ward in both hospitals showed the minimum fungal contamination.
Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that at all of the samplings the ratio of I/O was lower than one. It was noticed the dominancy of fungal bioaerosols and particulate matter of outdoor source on the indoor environment. In addition, a significant correlation (P < 0.001( was found between fungal bioaerosols frequency and particulate matter and as well as fungal bioaerosols frequency, relative humidity and temperature.
