Biomedical Science Letters (대한의생명과학회지)

The Korean Society for Biomedical Laboratory Sciences (대한의생명과학회)
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Microbial Contamination according to the Numbers of Mask Worn in the Community

  • Eun Ju, Lee (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Heechul, Park (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Min-A, Je (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Songhee, Jung (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Gahee, Myoung (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Su Bin, Jo (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Hyun Min, Hwang (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Ryeong, Si (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Hyunwoo, Jin (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Kyung-Eun, Lee (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Jungho, Kim (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan)
  • Received : 2022.09.15
  • Accepted : 2022.11.26
  • Published : 2022.12.31
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Abstract

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, wearing face masks is obligatory to prevent respiratory virus transmissions in the community. However, there are few studies of the desirable number of wearing a face mask, and how to store them for reuse. Therefore, in this study, a survey was conducted among 208 healthy adults, and 27 kf-94 masks worn for 1, 2, and 3 days were collected. To estimate the risk of bacterial contamination, we analyzed the extent of bacterial contamination of the BHI medium and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. With an increase in the number of days of using the mask, the degree of bacterial contamination of the used mask gradually increased. As a result of 16S rRNA PCR performed for strain identification, Staphylococcus, known as a pathogenic bacterium, was identified the most. In conclusion, we found that wearing a cotton KF mask provides an optimal environment for microbes, which are related to the skin and respiratory system, to thrive. Therefore, it is also important to reduce the risk of bacterial infection of the face mask with appropriate sterilization methods.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning (NRF-2020R1F1A1052068), the Catholic University of Pusan 2022 (2022-1-029) and d Brain Busan 21 Plus project.

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