Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde, 75 Montrose Street, Glasgow, G1 1XJ, Scotland, UK.
Dept. of Microbiology, Hairmyres Hospital, NHS Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 16;10(1):11841. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-68809-2.
In the context of increasingly airtight homes, there is currently little known about the type and diversity of microorganisms in the home, or factors that could affect their abundance, diversity and nature. In this study, we examined the type and prevalence of cultivable microorganisms at eight different sites in 100 homes of older adults located in Glasgow, Scotland. The microbiological sampling was undertaken alongside a household survey that collated information on household demographics, occupant behaviour, building characteristics, antibiotic use and general health information. Each of the sampled sites revealed its own distinct microbiological character, in both species and number of cultivable microbes. While some potential human pathogens were identified, none were found to be multidrug resistant. We examined whether the variability in bacterial communities could be attributed to differences in building characteristics, occupant behaviour or household factors. Sampled sites furnished specific microbiological characteristics which reflected room function and touch frequency. We found that homes that reported opening windows more often were strongly associated with lower numbers of Gram-negative organisms at indoor sites (p < 0.0001). This work offers one of the first detailed analysis of cultivable microbes in homes of older adults and their relationship with building and occupancy related factors, in a UK context.
在房屋密闭性日益增强的情况下，目前人们对家庭中微生物的种类和多样性，以及可能影响其丰度、多样性和性质的因素知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们在苏格兰格拉斯哥的 100 户老年人家庭的 8 个不同地点，检查了可培养微生物的类型和流行程度。微生物采样是与家庭调查同时进行的，该调查收集了家庭人口统计学、居住者行为、建筑特征、抗生素使用和一般健康信息。每个采样地点都揭示了其独特的微生物特征，包括物种和可培养微生物的数量。虽然发现了一些潜在的人类病原体，但没有发现耐多药的病原体。我们还检查了细菌群落的可变性是否可以归因于建筑特征、居住者行为或家庭因素的差异。采样地点具有特定的微生物特征，反映了房间功能和触摸频率。我们发现，报告经常开窗的家庭与室内革兰氏阴性菌数量较少呈强烈相关（p<0.0001）。这项工作首次在英国背景下，对老年人家庭中的可培养微生物及其与建筑和居住相关因素的关系进行了详细分析。
