Prevalence and Antibiogram of Bacteria Isolated from Saloon Equipment in Rivers State, Nigeria

The rate of new saloons in Rivers State is alarming and the conditions with which the operators carryout their activities, calls for public health concern. Hence, the prevalence and antibiogram of bacterial isolates from barbing saloon equipment in barber shops located in Bori, Omoku, and Port Harcourt in Rivers State was investigated using standard microbiological techniques. Samples for analysis were collected by swabbing the surfaces of clippers, brushes, and combs using moist swab sticks. The total heterotrophic bacteria and Staphylococci were evaluated using nutrient and mannitol salt agar respectively. The Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method was used to determine the susceptibility pattern of the isolates. The mean heterotrophic bacterial counts ranged from 17.62±2.75x103 to 40.95±14.49x103CFU/cm2, the total Staphylococcal count ranged from 11.67±1.29x102 to 39.69±20.61 x102CFU/cm2. A total number of 77 isolates belonging to six genera were isolated and they include; Acinetobacter baumannii (2.59%), Arthrobacter mysorens (16.88%), Bacillus cereus (20.78%), Micrococcus luteus (12.99%), Serratia marcescens (9.1%), Staphylococcus aureus (37.66%). The prevalence of these organisms