Microflora from selected ukay-ukay clothing in Valencia City, Bukidnon were isolated
and identified, and the effectiveness of commonly used antimicrobial agents
against the microbial isolates was assessed through a standard antimicrobial disc
diffusion assay. The effectiveness of conventional hand washing… More
Microflora from selected ukay-ukay clothing in Valencia City, Bukidnon were isolated
and identified, and the effectiveness of commonly used antimicrobial agents
against the microbial isolates was assessed through a standard antimicrobial disc
diffusion assay. The effectiveness of conventional hand washing and sun drying
in eradicating the microbes from ukay-ukay clothing was also assessed. Nine
bacteria namely; Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus sp., Enterobacter agglomerans, E.
aerogenes, E. hafniae, Citrobacter freundii, Salmonella arizonae, Serratia sp., Edwardsiella
sp., and seven fungi namely; Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, A. nidulans, Penicillium
glabrum, Rhizopus nigricans, Fusarium sp., Monilia sp. were recovered and identified.
One fungal species remained unidentified. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests
showed that majority of the bacte-ria were susceptible to doxocycline, tetracycline,
and norfloxacin. However, majority of the isolates were re-sistant to penicillin.
Tioconazole was the most effective among the antifungal agents tested. Majority
of the fungal isolates were resistant to sulfur+ZnO+salicylic acid, clotrimazole,
benzoic acid+salicylic acid, ketocona-zole+clobetasol propionate and terbinafine
hydrochloride. Reduction in colony counts after hand washing and sun drying
reached 92.40% and 96.86% for bacteria and fungi, respectively. This study shows
that ukay-ukay clothing harbor microbial pathogens with varying resistance/
susceptibility to popular antimicrobial agents. Less