How safe ladies hand bags are: A microbiological view

Abstract

Introduction: Hand bag (HB) is commonly used multipurpose personal gadget of female. Objective: To identify the bacteria growth in HBs. Setting: Department of Microbiology, GSL Medical College, Rajahmundry. Methods: Internal area of the HB was swabbed by using a sterile swab and inoculated in blood agar, MacConkey agar and Nutrient agar. After incubation growth was identified. Results: Out of 320 samples growth was identified in 176 (55%) samples. Gram positive coccus was commonly isolated compared to gram negative bacilli. Out of four study groups, more number of employees hand bags were contaminated (63.75%) followed by illiterates (57.5%), post graduates (55%) and students (43.5%).