Isolation and identification of microorganisms associated with automated teller machines in Kampala City

Abstract

Automated teller machines are visited everyday by many people. This machine is accessible to the general public irrespective of class, age or race. The contact point of all ATMs is the hand which on their own are carriers of microorganisms. To achieve this, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the microbial contamination in selected divisions of Kampala district namely; Nakawa, Central and Kawempe. Swabs were collected from each ATM’s screen and keypads and were plated in blood agar and MacConkey agar. Significant microorganisms were established to have contaminated the ATMs and these included; E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas species. The susceptibility pattern was done on E. coli, Klebsiella and Staphylococcus aureus. E. coli was the most sensitive microbe towards the antibiotics used. It was sensitive to gentamicin, tobramycin, azithromycin, levofloxacin, impenem, and amikacin though resistant to cefoxitin, Staphylococcus aureus was sensitive to cefoxitin, tobramycin and levofloxacin but resistant to trimethoprim, impenem, amikacin and azithromycin whereas Klebsiella was only sensitive to amikacin and levofloxacin but resistant to gentamicin, cefoxitin, tobramycin, trimethoprim, azithromycin and impenem. Therefore, in order to prevent resistant strains of bacteria from spreading, adequate personal hygiene and regular routine cleaning of these machines by the bank's authorities should be emphasized and recommended.