Bacterial Contamination and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns in Maternity, Neonatal Intensive Care, Pediatric, and Observation Units at Al-Mahjoub General Hospital, Misurata, Libya

Hospital environmental contamination can contribute to the persistence and transfer of potentially pathogenic bacteria. This study assessed bacterial contamination of selected surfaces and medical devices and described antimicrobial susceptibility records at Al-Mahjoub General Hospital, Misurata, Libya. Environmental swabs were collected from the Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Neonatal Intensive Care, Pediatric, and Women’s Observation units. Samples were cultured on MacConkey, blood, and chocolate agar, and isolates were examined using colony morphology and Gram staining. Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed by disk diffusion using 13 agents, with interpretation reportedly based on Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidance. Of 26 environmental samples, 22 (84.62%) yielded bacterial growth, and 4 (15.38%) showed no growth. Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently recovered organism (15/26, 57.69%), followed by Streptococcus pyogenes (3/26, 11.54%); Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus spp., and Micrococcus spp. were each recorded once. Susceptibility records varied by isolate and sampling site. However, original inhibition-zone diameters and a fully reconciled isolate-level dataset were unavailable, so resistance patterns are reported descriptively and no overall multidrug-resistance rate is claimed. The findings support routine environmental cleaning, infection-prevention training, and improved microbiological surveillance.