Bacterial and Fungal Counts in Hospital Air: Comparative Yields for 4 Sieve Impactor Air Samplers With 2 Culture Media

Abstract

We compared the yields of 4 recently developed sieve impactor air samplers that meet international standard ISO 14698-1, using 2 growth media (tryptic soy agar and malt extract agar) in real conditions of use. Several hospital sites expected to have different densities of airborne microflora were selected in 2 hospitals. The Samplair MK2, Air Ideal, and Mas-100 samplers yielded higher bacterial counts than did the SAS Super-100 device (P<.05). No significant differences in fungal counts were noted between the 4 devices. The use of malt extract agar in addition to tryptic soy agar significantly improved the fungal yield.