Abstract:
Inappropriate use of antibiotics has led to the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in
ambient air. There is no published information about the presence and resistance profiles of bacteria
in ambient air in Ghana. We evaluated the presence and antibiotic resistance profiles of selected
bacterial, environmental and meteorological characteristics and airborne bacterial counts in 12 active
air quality monitoring sites (seven roadside, two industrial and three residential) in Accra in February
2020. Roadside sites had the highest median temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and PM10
concentrations, and median airborne bacterial counts in roadside sites (115,000 CFU/m3) were higher
compared with industrial (35,150 CFU/m3) and residential sites (1210 CFU/m3). Bacillus species
were isolated in all samples and none were antibiotic resistant. There were, however, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas species, non-hemolytic Streptococci, Coliforms and Staphylococci
species, of which six (50%) showed mono-resistance or multidrug resistance to four antibiotics
(penicillin, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone). There was a positive correlation between PM10
concentrations and airborne bacterial counts (rs = 0.72), but no correlations were found between PM10
concentrations and the pathogenic bacteria nor their antibiotic resistance. We call for the expansion
of surveillance of ambient air to other cities of Ghana to obtain nationally representative information
