In health care facilities, contamination usually spreads through air droplets or by direct touch. Health care facilities are considered critical environments and a regular assessment of IAQ is essential to create safe environments and to ensure public health. Airborne microbes are some of the most important indoor air quality (IAQ) complications for public and occupational health. Additionally, it is crucial to understand seasonal fluctuations better so that hospitals can avoid rising and spreading infection peaks.Ĭoncerns about airborne infections have increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, an IAQ standards should be shaped to establish a baseline for measuring air pollution in Qatar.
About 46% of the total airborne bacterial count for three PHCC centers exceeded 300 CFU/m 3, making them uncompliant with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation for indoor settings.
The abundance of airborne bacteria in the four health centers was higher in the cold season. Staphylococcus, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas were the four most frequently identified bacterial genera in this study. In addition, 16S rRNA sequencing was performed for genera identification. In contrast, AR-HC had the highest level, with 459 CFU/m 3 indoors, while OA-HC recorded the highest bacterial concentration of the outdoor areas with a total mean 377 CFU/m 3. QU-HC had the lowest mean of total bacterial count compared with other centers in the indoor and outdoor areas with 100.4 and 99.6 CFU/m 3, respectively. The mean of the total colony-forming units was calculated per cubic meter of air (CFU/m 3). Samples were collected using an Anderson six-stage cascade impactor. Air samples were collected from the lobby, triage room, and outside environment of the centers, including, Qatar University (QU-HC), Al-Rayyan (AR-HC), Umm-Ghuwailina (UG-HC), and Old Airport (OA-HC) between August 2020 and March 2021, throughout both the hot and the cold seasons. Hence, this study investigates the quantity, size, and identification of airborne bacteria indoors and outdoors of four Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) in Doha, Qatar. Airborne bacteria may originate from various sources, including patients, workers, and daily visitors. Airborne bacteria pose a potential risk to human health upon inhalation in the indoor environments of health care facilities.
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