An Assessment Of Microbiological Quality Of Hospital Food Items Collected From Different Hospitals In Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Abstract

In healthcare settings a nutritious diet is essential for the patients in hospital. Food must be safe and of good quality. Meals or foods offered to the patients inside the hospital environment are an essential part of their overall care for recovery. Bacterial contamination of hospital food items can be hazardous for the health and safety of the patients. Therefore, the present research work was undertaken to find out the presence of enteric bacteria specially E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Vibrio species from different hospital food of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Five agar media MacConkey, Tryptone Bile Xglucoronide (TBX) agar, Thiosulfate Citrate Bile Salt-sucrose (TCBS) agar, Brilliant Green Agar (BGA) and Xylose-Lysine Desoxycholate agar (XLD) were used to observe the presence of our targeted microorganisms in food items. Seven biochemical tests were performed to identify the targeted organisms. The tests are KIA, citrate, motility, indole, ornithine, urease, and oxidase test. Out of thirty-one food samples 7 (36.85%) food samples were suspected to be contaminated with E. coli, 9 (37.37%) food samples were suspected to be contaminated with Vibrio species, 3 (15.79%) food samples were suspected to be contaminated with Aeromonas species. All these enteric pathogens could be the potential cause for foodborne illnesses and may further deteriorate the patients’ health. So, the hospital canteen authority should take necessary steps to maintain good quality of food to ensure patients health safety.