UTILIZING THE DOMINANCE INDEX TO EVALUATE MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION ON PHARMACY ROOM DISPLAYS

Background
In many countries, including Ukraine, pharmacies are required to adhere to rigorous safety and service quality standards.

Material and methods
The samples were obtained from 26 pharmacy premises, including pharmacy showcases and separating partitions. The dominance index was calculated by considering how frequently a particular microorganism species appeared within the sample population.

Results
The results of the bacteriological analysis of 26 samples taken from pharmacy room displays revealed 74 strains of microorganisms from 11 different genera of bacteria and Candida fungi. Based on the dominance index, Micrococcus, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus are considered constant, with an index exceeding 50.01%, while the remaining representatives of both Gram-positive (Streptococcus spp.) and Gram-negative bacteria (Acinetobacter spp., Neisseria spp., Escherichia spp., Yersinia spp., Klebsiella spp., and Moraxella spp.) and fungi Candida spp. microbiota should be classified as infrequent, ranging from 1.01% to 19.01%.

Conclusions
The study of samples revealed the presence of 12 genera of microorganisms that contaminated the surfaces of pharmacy showcases. The identified microorganisms belong to the permanent or temporary microbiota of human skin, respiratory tract, and air. With regard to the results of bacteriological analysis; it is important to emphasize that the isolated species of microorganisms are characteristic of such types of investigated objects.