Bacteria Associated with Skin Piercing Equipment and their Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern in Port Harcourt Metropolis

Skin Piercing is becoming rampant among adolescent in our contemporary society without considering its health implication and the risk of pathogenic microorganisms associated with equipment used. Hence, this research is carried out to determine the bacteria associated with this skin piercing equipment and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern in Port Harcourt metropolis. A total of thirty (30) skin piercing equipment were swab using sterile swab sticks and samples subjected to standard microbiological technique as well as standard plate count, culturing, identification and antibiotic susceptibility pattern using Kirby Bauer Disk diffusion method.  The distributed questionnaires showed that the percentage of female (79.56%) involved in skin piercing is more than the males (20.44%). The total heterotrophic bacteria count ranged from 4.75±0.03×103 CFU/ml to 6.31±0.23×104 CFU/ml in RSU back gate and PH Victoria Street respectively. The total Staphylococcal count ranged from 1.90±0.01×102 CFU/ml to 4.31±0.03×102 CFU/ml in RSU back gate and PH Victoria Street respectively. A total of Seventeen (17) bacteria isolates were identified belonging to the following genera; Staphylococcus spp, Streptococcus spp, Bacillus spp, Micrococcus spp, and Clostridium spp. The prevalence of the bacteria indicated that Staphylococcus had the highest occurrence (26%), followed closely by Pseudomonas spp (19%), and Clostridium spp (11.7%) had the least prevalence across the locations. The Antimicrobial sensitivity testing results shows that Staphylococcus spp, Streptococcus spp, Bacillus spp, Micrococcus spp, and Clostridium spp are more susceptible to Erythromycin, Gentamicin and Ofloxacin (100%) and resistant to Augmentin, Ceftazidime, Cefuroxime and Ceftriaxone (100%) Pseudomonas spp was Susceptible to Gentamicin, Nitrofurantoin and Ciprofloxacin (100%) and resistant to Ceftazidime, Cefuroxime and Augmentin (100%). These bacteria isolated are mostly pathogenic and may result in an increase in health complication as a result of non-hygienic protocol employed during using this skin piercing equipment. Professionals should enlighten and give advisory comment to adolescent about the risks involved in skin piercing practices.