EVALUATION OF BIOMETRIC SENSORS FROM ATMS FOR PATHOGENIC BACTERIA CONTAMINATION

Abstract

Microorganisms are present in several environments, whether they are pathogenic or not. Commonly used objects, such as ATMs, are contaminated in various ways and can cause infections in humans, through indirect contact transmission. The objective was to identify the presence of microorganisms in the biometric sensors of ATMs in the city of Santarém-PA. Samples were collected from 24 biometric sensors from ATMs for bacteriological analysis. A sterile swab moistened with 0.9% NaCl was used to perform the collection and the samples were sown in the culture media Agar chocolate, Agar CLED and Agar Macconkey, incubated in greenhouses at 37 ° C / 24 h. Of the 24 samples, 6 were positive for the presence of bacteria, where all were identified as Staphylococcus sp. Still, the sensitivity profile of the samples was carried out, in which sensitivity to gentamicin and resistance to ampicillin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, oxacillin, rifampicin, tetracycline, sulfazotrim and vancomycin were identified in 100% of the cases. With the results obtained, contamination of these sites by bacteria was proven, which can be resistant to most antibiotics used in general medical practice. Basic hand hygiene measures must be adopted by all ATM users, fighting the spread and reducing infections caused by microorganisms.