Assessment of the microbial contamination of stairwell door handles in blocks of flats

Abstract

The stairwell door handles in blocks of flats are the objects that every resident and guests touch at least several times a day. For this reason, many microorganisms collect on them, which can cause infections of varying severity. Therefore, it is very important to observe proper hand hygiene and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces on the stairwells of blocks of flats. Research samples were taken in the months of October-November in 2021 and December-January in 2022, in the morning (between 7:00 and 8:00) and in the evening (between 19:00 and 20:00), from the stairwells of the blocks of flats in the city of Kaunas. One-hundred samples were taken in the autumn season (50 in the morning and 50 in the evening) and 100 samples in the winter season (50 in the morning and 50 in the evening). The research sample consisted of 200 samples; four analytes were analysed in each sample: Enteroccocus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. The stairwell door handles of multi-apartment buildings were contaminated with Enterococcus spp. the most and with S. aureus bacteria the least. Slightly higher microbial contamination of multi-apartment stairwells was observed in the evening. Microbial contamination of multi-apartment stairwell door handles was observed to be higher in the autumn season than in the winter season.