Association of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with bacteria in hospitals in the State of Santa Catarina

The objective of this study was to identify ant occurrence in hospital environments in the State of Santa Catarina, along with associated bacteria. Ants were collected monthly from five inpatient clinics in two hospitals in the municipality of Chapecó, from August 2003 to June 2004. They were collected under aseptic conditions using swabs moistened with sterile distilled water and put into test tubes containing BHI for microbiological analysis. After 24 hours, cultures were made in both 5% sheep blood and MacConkey agar, which were incubated for 24 hours at 35/37°C. The Gram characterization, culture identification and biochemical characterization followed standardized rules for clinical microbiology. Seven species of ants were identified, of which the most frequent were Monomorium pharaonis (71.5%) and Solenopsis saevissima (57%), and nineteen species of bacteria was isolated from hospital "A".

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lise,Fernanda, Garcia,Flávio Roberto Mello, Lutinski,Junir Antônio
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical - SBMT 2006
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822006000600002
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