What You Can’t See Can Hurt You! Bacterial Invasion at NSU

What You Can’t See Can Hurt You! Bacterial Invasion at NSU

College campuses are typically areas where large numbers of students from diverse geographical areas converge. Close contact in public places such as classrooms, restrooms, and computer labs is common. Illnesses quickly spread through a college campuses population. Many germs are spread via respiratory droplets which can survive on surfaces for hours and even days. I sampled 14 separate locations at NSU to see which surfaces harbored the most bacteria. Bacterial samples were collected using sterile Q-tips which were swabbed over a one square inch area for approximately 10 seconds. The Q- tips were then used to transfer any bacteria present to an agar plate with growth medium and incubated for twenty-four hours. This entire procedure was conducted three times. The first two trials were performed at noon before sanitation crews arrived to clean bathrooms and the third trial was conducted at 2 pm, briefly after the bathrooms were cleaned. The top three spots for bacteria were the men’s room paper towel dispenser, ladies room paper towel dispenser, men’s room toilet flusher. Surprisingly, the results showed that the highest number of bacterial colonies was found on the men’s paper towel dispenser after the bathroom had been cleaned. This result indicates the sanitation crews did not clean the paper towel dispenser. The results also demonstrated that plastic structures harbored more bacteria than other surfaces, such as metal or ceramic. This study provides support for the installation of new paper towel dispensers on campus to increase public health and reduce illnesses among NSU’s population.