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Cockroaches as Potential Vectors of Nosocomial Infections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Hsiu-Hua Pai ,
Wei-Chen Chen  and
Chien-Fang Peng
Hsiu-Hua Pai*
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
Wei-Chen Chen
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
Chien-Fang Peng
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
*
Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100, Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
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Abstract

Objective:

To determine the possible role of cockroaches in the epidemiology of nosocomial infections.

Design:

Epidemiologic investigation of bacteria and fungi in cockroaches and evaluation of the antibiotic resistance of the bacteria isolated from the insects.

Setting:

Ninety hospitals in Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County in Taiwan.

Methods:

Cockroaches were collected in clinical and nonclinical areas and microorganisms were isolated from their external surface and alimentary tract. The susceptibilities of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, and Proteus species to 17 antibiotics were tested.

Results:

Cockroach infestation was found in 46.7% of the hospitals studied. Two hundred three cockroaches were collected (139 Periplaneta americana and 64 Blattella germanica). Periplaneta americana was found more often in nonclinical areas (64.5%) and B. germanica in clinical areas (78.1%). There was no statistically significant difference between Periplaneta americana (98.6%) and B. germanica (96.9%) regarding overall isolation rate (P > .05). However, 33 species of bacteria and 16 species of fungi were isolated from Periplaneta americana and only 23 and 12, respectively, from B. germanica. Resistance to ampicillin (13.7% to 100%), chloramphenicol (14.3% to 71.4%), tetracycline (14.3% to 73.3%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (14.3% to 57.1%) was found in two gram-positive and five gram-negative bacteria.

Conclusion:

Because cockroach infestation occurred in more than 40% of the hospitals and nearly all of the cockroaches harbored bacteria with multidrug resistance and fungi, cockroaches may play a potential role in the epidemiology of nosocomial infections in those hospitals.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 25 , Issue 11 , November 2004 , pp. 979 - 984
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2004

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