Santos Paula Fernandes dos, Fonseca Alysson Rodrigo, Sanches Newton Moreno
Centro de Pesquisa, Fundação Educacional de Divinópolis, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Divinópolis, MG.
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2009 Sep-Oct;42(5):565-9. doi: 10.1590/s0037-86822009000500016.
The presence of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in hospital environments may constitute a public health problem, especially since they are mechanical vectors for pathogenic organisms. This study aimed to survey the ant populations and analyze the presence of bacteria associated with them in two medium-sized regional hospitals in the municipality of Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Specimens were collected every monthly over a six-month period. The following ant species were found: Pheidole sp1 and sp2, Linepithema humile, Wasmannia auropunctata, Camponotus sp1 and sp2, Odontomachus sp, Solenopsis sp, Acromyrmex sp and Tapinoma melenocephalum. It was observed that these ants mechanically transported Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli and non-pathogenic and pathogenic Staphylococcus. These results show the propensity for occurrences of hospital infections at these sites caused by mechanical transmission of pathogens by ants.
医院环境中蚂蚁（膜翅目：蚁科）的存在可能构成公共卫生问题，特别是因为它们是致病生物的机械传播媒介。本研究旨在调查巴西米纳斯吉拉斯州迪维诺波利斯市两家中型地区医院的蚂蚁种群，并分析与它们相关的细菌的存在情况。在六个月的时间里，每月收集标本。发现了以下蚂蚁种类：费氏蚁属sp1和sp2、阿根廷蚁、金刻臭蚁、弓背蚁属sp1和sp2、齿猛蚁属、火蚁属、切叶蚁属和黑头酸臭蚁。观察到这些蚂蚁机械性传播铜绿假单胞菌、肠球菌、链球菌、大肠杆菌以及非致病性和致病性葡萄球菌。这些结果表明，在这些地点因蚂蚁机械传播病原体而发生医院感染的可能性。
