Study of the Indoor Environment of Welfare Facilities for the Aged : Part1-Field Measurement of Airborne Microbes by DNA Sequencing Analysis

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  • 高齢者福祉施設における室内環境に関する研究 : 第1報-遺伝子解析法を用いた微生物汚染実態詳細調査の結果
  • コウレイシャ フクシ シセツ ニ オケル シツナイ カンキョウ ニ カンスル ケンキュウ(ダイ1ポウ)イデンシ カイセキホウ オ モチイタ ビセイブツ オセン ジッタイ ショウサイ チョウサ ノ ケッカ

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Abstract

In Japan, the rate of the 65 and over years-old (rate of aging) population occupied to the present overall population has reached to 25.1% in 2013, and this is expected to progress to becoming an aged society hereafter. In general, as the immunity of aged people is quite low, they tend to suffer from so-called opportunistic infections. Therefore, it is important to examine indoor air environments of welfare facilities for the aged. If there are problems in particular on the actual status of microbial contamination, it is necessary to examine the countermeasures. In this study, the environments of eight rooms of 5 facilities were examined. The sites of investigation include the day room where inhabitants gather, the room where the facility residents stayed for a long time, and the outdoor. Measurements were carried out twice at each site from August to October 2011 (summer), and January to February 2012 (winter). Furthermore, to clarify the time-dependent-change-changes in the characteristics with regard to both the indoor airborne microbial concentration and the type of species, the environments of the day rooms were continually evaluated during summer, in terms of airborne bacteria and airborne fungi. The detailed analysis of microbial contamination using the DNA analysis technique revealed, the following findings: (1) The range of fluctuation of concentration the airborne bacteria and fungi in the day room has increased 100 to 1000 fold, and it is difficult to grasp the actual condition of contamination of indoor bacteria and fungi by a momentary measurement. (2) Except at one facility, 75 percentile of the airborne microbial concentration (including bacteria and fungus) in 4 facilities of the Architectural Institute of Japan satisfied the standard value of 500 cfu/m^3, but various bacilli causing opportunistic infections, such as Staphylococcus hominis, S. epidermidis, Serratia marcescens, Corynebacterium xerosis, C. freneyi, Acinetobacter baumannii, A. calcoaceticus, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, are detected. (3) Since many opportunistic infection-causing bacteria exist in these welfare facilities, preventive measures are required to ensure safety of the aged people who have special care requirements.

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