Mapping the Hospital Room Microbiome Using Metagenomics

Use of metagenomics and culture enrichment sequencing identified two bacterial communities, one in high-touch areas and with high microbial turnover and human influence, the other biofilm-associated and less variable over time.

The hospital environment is an important element in the transmission of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that contribute to hospital-acquired infections. Metagenomics allows the profiling of the bacterial community structure in an environment and has been used to characterize the microbial ecology in hospitals. In this study, researchers used metagenomics to examine patterns of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a tertiary-care hospital. They swabbed areas of several hospital rooms and repeated swabbing at 1 week and at 1.5 years. Sites sampled included the bed, bedrails, table, pulse oximeter, and bedside locker as well as the sink and the faucet aerator.

Combining short-read shotgun metagenomics with culture enrichment long-read sequencing, th…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

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Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Mapping the Hospital Room Microbiome Using Metagenomics

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Reviewing Author