Microbial Assessment of the Armpits of Some Selected University Students in Lagos Nigeria.
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Date
2012
Authors
Uzeh, R.E
Omotayo, E.A
Adesoro, O.O
Ilori, M.O
Amund, O.O
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A study of the carriage of microorganisms in armpits and prevailing factors was carried out on 80
students of the University of Lagos. The armpits were swabbed and the microbiological analyses
were carried out on the swab samples. The organisms isolated include Staphylococcus epidermidis
(35%), Staphylococcus aureus (3%), Staphylococcus cohnii (3%), Staphylococus haemolyticus (15%),
Staphylococcus hominis (25%), Micrococcus luteus (9%), Staphylococcus capitis (6%),
Staphylococcus saprophyticus (3%) and Candida tropicalis (1%). Questionnaires on gender and
health related factors were administered to the subjects. Most students regardless of sex, used toilet
soap (62.5%), had their bath twice daily (60%), used sponge for body scrubbing (87.5%) and shaved
regularly (78.75%) but these did not have any significant influence on the carriage of microorganisms
(P=0.05). More female participants used deodorants, than the males. The bacterial and fungal counts
in the armpits of females were lower than the counts from male armpits, which mean that the use of
deodorant reduced the carriage of microorganisms. From the antibiotics sensitivity tests carried out on
S. aureus, the highest sensitivity was recorded for Ofloxacin while the least was for Cotrimoxazole.
However the bacterium was resistant to most antibiotics tested. The DNA profile of S. aureus showed
that none of the strains had a plasmid thereby suggesting that the antibiotic resistance genes in these
strains could be chromosomally- encoded.
Description
Keywords
Microorganisms , Armpit , University students , Lagos , Nigeria
Citation
International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences 6(6), 5022-5029.