Eye-Catching Microbes—Polyphasic Analysis of the Microbiota on Microscope Oculars Verifies Their Role as Fomites

• Main Authors: Birgit Fritz, Karin Schäfer, Melanie März, Siegfried Wahl, Focke Ziemssen, Markus Egert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: microscope; ocular; 16S rRNA gene; sequencing; Illumina; eye
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/5/1572

Microscopes are used in virtually every biological and medical laboratory. Previous cultivation-based studies have suggested that direct contact with microscope eyepieces increases the risk of eye infections. To obtain a deeper insight into the microbiota on oculars, we analysed 10 recently used university microscopes. Their left oculars were used for a cultivation-based approach, while the right oculars served for massive gene sequencing. After cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, the oculars were re-sampled and analysed again. All oculars were found to be contaminated with bacteria, with a maximum load of 1.7 × 10³ CFU cm⁻². MALDI Biotyping revealed mainly <i>Cutibacterium</i> (68%), <i>Staphylococcus</i> (14%) and <i>Brevibacterium</i> (10%), with the most abundant species being <i>Cutibacterium acnes</i> (13%) and <i>Staphylococcus capitis</i> (6%). Cleaning reduced the microbial load by up to 2 log scales. Within 10 uncleaned and 5 cleaned samples, 1480 ASVs were assigned to 10 phyla and 262 genera. The dominant genera before cleaning were <i>Cutibacterium</i> (78%), <i>Paracoccus</i> (13%), <i>Pseudomonas</i> (2%) and <i>Acinetobacter</i> (1%). The bacteriota composition on the cleaned oculars was similar; however, it probably largely represented dead bacteria. In summary, used oculars were significantly contaminated with skin and environmental bacteria, including potential pathogens. Regular cleaning is highly recommended to prevent eye and skin infections.