M. Lincy et al. Int. J. Res. Biosciences, 5(4), 69-78, (2016) International Journal of Research in Biosciences Vol. 5 Issue 4, pp. (69-78), October 2016 Available online at http://www.ijrbs.in ISSN 2319-2844 Research Paper Determination of bacterial and fungal loads and antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacteria isolated from public toilet door handles in Vellore district, Tamilnadu, India Maria Lincy 1 , Vidhya 1 , Arunadevi 1 , Pakeer Shaik Syed Ali 2 , *Jasmine John 1 1 Department of Microbi ology, DKM College for Women, RV Nagar, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, INDIA 2 Universi ty College Shahputra, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, MALAYSIA (Received June 30, 2016, Accepted August 15, 2016) Abstract The main aim of this work is to portray the prevalence of both the pathogenic and non- pathogenic microorganisms on fomites such as public toilet door handles in Vellore district, India which may pose a risk to the community thr ough transmission of infection. Swabs were collected from the door handles of different public toilets and it was found that the toilet door handles of hospital, bus station and railway station had a higher rate of contamination compared to schools and college. Majority of the bacterial isolates were coliforms and Gram negative bacteria. The following bacterial species were isolated such as Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella sp, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp, Shigella sp, Micrococcus sp, Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas sp and Proteus sp. Fungus such as Rhodotorula sp, Candida sp and Rhizopus sp were found. Among Gram positive bacteria, Micrococcus sp (58%) showed highest resistance to antibiotics followed by Staphylococcus sp (50%) and Bacillus sp (42%). Among Gram negative bacteria, Pseudomonas sp (83%) showed highest resistance and Proteus sp (58%) showed the least resistance to antibiotics. To summarize the contamination of public toilet door handles largely go unnoticed but can cause serious infections and measures should be undertaken to control it. Keywords: Microorganisms, toilet door handles, anti biotic suscepti bili ty testing Introduction Microorganisms are ubiquitous and constitute a chief part of every ecosystem. The transmissi on of diseases through hand contact has been an area of maj or concern. Microbes in various environments liv e either freely or as parasites [1] . Daily i nteracti on of peopl e contributes to spreadi ng of disease but a maj or source and spread of community acquired i nfecti ons are fomites [2,3] . Such fomites i ncl ude door handles, showers, toilet seats and faucets, sinks, l ockers, chairs and tables, especially those found in schools, public offices, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and restrooms [4,5] Microbes live as transient contaminants in fomites or hands where they consti tute a maj or health hazards as sources of communi ty acquired infecti ons. The increasing frequency of epi demic outbreaks of certain diseases and i ts rate of spread f rom one community to the other has become a major public health anxiety [6,7] . Public toil ets are the worst place to get infected as the total number of people using these pl aces is more and v ariety of bacteria is deposited on the door handles. Rest rooms are contaminated with microbes f rom human source such as saliva, skin, urine and feces. Many i nfected infants shed high concentration of bacteria i n their feces and these readily transmi t it through improperly washed hands [8] . Public toil ets have l arge i nterchange of users who deposit on the door handl es their own microbi al flora and the other organisms that they have picked elsewhere