Objectives: This study aims to understand the concentration, diversity, and antibiotic characteristics of staphylococci present in the indoor air of child-care facilities. Methods: Air sampling was performed from October 2012 to January 2013 in 120 child-care facilities in Seoul, Korea. Methicillin-resistant bacteria were selected from the total obtained airborne bacteria and subjected to 16S rRNA analysis for methicillin-resistant staphylococcal species determination. Identified staphylococcal strains were tested for resistance to a range of antibiotics. Results: Average total airborne bacterial concentration was 508.9 ± 246.3 CFU/m3. Indoor concentration of total airborne bacteria had a significant positive correlation with the CO2 concentration in the child-care facilities. Methicillin-resistant staphylococci were present in 13.3% of the child-care facilities studied. A total of four species (S. epidermidis, S. cohnii, S. saprophyticus, S. sp.) and 55 strains were identified from the indoor air of the child-care facilities. Staphylococcus cohnii was the most common species (54.5%), followed by S. epidermidis (38.2%). All of the isolated staphylococcal strains exhibited high resistance to oxacillin, erythromycin, mupirocin, and ceftizoxime. Especially, S. saprophyticus strains showed more multidrug resistance to oxacillin, vancomycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, lincomycin, ceftizoxime, mupirocin, and tetracycline than did other species. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a monitoring system for multidrug-resistant bacteria is needed in facilities for children, as the community-associated infections of these bacteria are increasing.
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