Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
Open Access

Abstract

Smoking tobacco is known to increase morbidity and mortality worldwide. Water pipe tobacco smoking is becoming a remarkable phenomenon in the GCC countries. Moreover, this habit shows a continual proliferation pattern related to the fact that the number of smokers and the number of shisha places are increased sharply. While teens have become more addicted to shisha due their new lifestyle, some adult use shisha during their business meetings and negotiations. The clinical data has apparently addressed the drastic impact of smoking on human health, while the impact of pathogens of shisha (itself) is not properly studied. This study aims at examining the risk of bacterial and fungal transmission through frequent or/and repeated usage of same water pipe by different smokers in public cafes. Furthermore, this study will recommend the best practices to eliminate pathogenic infection. 110 samples were collected from different cafes in Dubai and Ajman cities in the time period between Nov. 2016 and Feb. 2017. Bacterial and fungal strains were examined using standard protocol of culturing, isolating and identifying microorganism. In addition, the resistance of isolated bacteria to common antibiotics was determined by the mean of antibiotic susceptibility test of each isolate. Six bacterial strains have been detected which are Pseudomonas putida, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Pantoea agglomerans, Bacillus cereus and Providencia alcalifaciens. One of the most important finding of the current study is the isolated bacteria Staphylococcus saprophyticus which showed methicillin resistance. This makes the current study of clinical importance for health promotion and awareness.

Biography

Y Alfoteih has obtained his PhD in Environmental Biology from the University of Hohenheim, Germany and did his Post-Doctoral Research in Epidemiology at Newcastle University, Institute of Cellular and Medical Sciences. He has worked across many universities in Syria and UAE as an Assistant Professor and has also worked as a Consultant in industry. He has published in many international journals and has presented and chaired sessions at national and international conferences. He is presently serving as the Chair of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at Canadian University Dubai, UAE.