Abstract:
The study assessed potential sources of nosocomial infections as well as the knowledge of healthcare
workers about these infections in a peri-urban polyclinic of Ghana. Swabs were taken in duplicates
from beds in the wards, door knobs, sinks, nurses’ desks, taps handles, delivery beds, wound dressing
rooms, and door and flashing handles of lavatories. After overnight incubation, the samples were
serially diluted two times and the third diluent was used in culturing unto plate counting agar,
MacConkey agar, blood agar and incubated at 35±2°C for 24 h. The plates were read for colonies and
isolated colonies were identified. A simple random method was used to sample the respondents from
the various departments in the Polyclinic. Structured questionnaires were administered to solicit their
knowledge or understanding of possible causes of nosocomial infections and their perception of the
efficacy of the cleaning processes employed in the facility as well as measures put in place to protect
healthcare workers from these infections. Data collected showed that Bacillus spp. was the
predominant bacterium isolated contributing 64.3% of the total isolate. Out of the 24 pathogenic
organisms forming 35.7% of the total organisms isolated, Staphylococcus aureus (94.8%) formed the
majority and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.2%) was the least isolated. There was no significant
difference between the number of isolates recorded before cleaning and after cleaning (P > 0.05) with
almost the same number and type of organisms isolated in both cases. Apart from the orderlies who
demonstrated little knowledge on nosocomial infections, all the other healthcare workers exhibited
adequate knowledge of nosocomial infections. The seemingly high percentage of pathogenic isolates
from our study site indicates a high potential risk of nosocomial infections in peri-urban polyclinics.
