Investigating the Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence of Bacteria Isolated from Hospital Environments

Introduction Bacteria are essential components of all ecosystems. They inhabit soil, water, air and even travel in space (Afshinnekoo et al., 2015; Osman et al., 2008). Bacteria also survive on inanimate objects such as fomites either transiently or for long periods (Boone and Gerba, 2007; Miller and Diep, 2008). Some bacteria that live in contact with or infect animals, have been implicated in zoonotic infections, which can be a health risk for humans (Cantas and Suer, 2014) and can modulate diverse activities in relation to human health (Allegranzi et al., 2011). Acting as symbiotic agents, bacteria undertake various metabolic and immune-boosting activities that promote human health (Huttunen and Aittoniemi, 2011), and as pathogens, they can cause mild to severe disease in humans (Ashgar and El-said, 2012). Over the years, various forms of bacterial life have evolved harrowing human healthy living (Brown et al., 2014). Thus bacteria are ubiquitous indoor, in working environments and outdoors and are mostly classified as opportunists (Price et al., 2017). The hospital environment harbors potential pathogens posing serious health risks (Scheckler et al., 2014). Evidence on the public health-risks of bacteria residing in hospital environments are becoming increasingly important (Poza et al., 2012). Studies have indicated that the hospital environments, especially indoors of Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) harbor pathogenic bacteria (Lee et al., 2009; Patel et al., 2015). Factors facilitating their occurrence are diverse and have been established (Bereket et al., 2012; Yallew et al., 2017). Major among others involve interactions of different hospital users with facilities in hospital environment (McOrist et al., 2002; Peters et al., 2012; Gupte et al., 2015). This has contributed to the prevalence of bacteria in healthcare settings, ultimately encouraging the emergence of new bacteria with health threatening potential.