qualitative and quantitative assessment of airborne fungal spores in the hospitals environment of ahvaz city (2016)

Background: invasive fungal infections acquired in the hospital have progressively emerged as an important cause of lifethreatening infection. in particular, airborne fungi in hospitals are considered critical pathogens of hospital-associated infections. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the airborne fungi of indoor environments of educational hospitals in the city of ahvaz, iran. methods: the air samples were taken from seven wards in five hospitals using quick take 30 samplepump. a total of 175 air samples were cultured into sabouraud dextrose agar and incubated at 25°c for 7 to 10 days. fungal species were identified by macroscopic and microscopic features. the number of airborne fungi was presented in colony-forming unit per cubic meter (cfu/m^3). results: a total of 2906 fungal colonies were isolated. the highest and least numbers of fungi were related to surgical (446 cfu/m^3) and neonatal intensive care unit wards (103 cfu/m^3), respectively. the most frequent fungal species was cladosporium spp. (35.3%), followed by yeasts (27.3%), aspergillus spp. (15.1%), penicillium spp. (12.1%), and other fungal species (10.2%) conclusions: all wards under study were heavily contaminated with different types of fungi. thus, it is suggested to monitor the indoor air to prevent possible hospital infections.