[Fungal flora in a hospital environment]

The airborne fungal flora was studied in different departments of a hospital by using a slit sampler (Casella, London) where the measured volume of air is impacted to the surface of culture medium contained in Petri dishes. Colonies were counted after 3 days incubation at 25 degrees C and 37 degrees C. Many species of hyphomycetes were identified. The main fungi isolated were Cladosporium sp (especially C. cladosporioides), Penicillium sp., Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus sp. (A. flavus, A. niger, A. fumigatus). The results show that the variability of the spore number is related to the ventilation. The number of spores found indoors seemed proportional to those present outdoors in naturally ventilated rooms. The results are quite different in the air-conditioned wards. Also, there might be a correlation between the counts and the activity and occupation of wards.