LAUSR

In the British Isles, the frequency of rain results in the formation of puddles on footpaths and roads in/around hospitals. No data are available demonstrating the microbiological composition of such puddles and therefore a study was undertaken to examine the microbiology of puddles in the grounds of two tertiary university‐teaching hospitals (18 sites) and compared with control puddles from non‐hospital rural environments (eight sites), estimating (i) total viable count; (ii) identification of organisms in puddles; (iii) enumeration of Escherichia coli: (iv) detection of Extended Spectrum β‐Lactamase producing organisms and (v) direct antimicrobial susceptibility testing. A mean count of 2·3 × 103 CFU per ml and 1·0 × 109 CFU per ml was obtained for hospital and non‐hospital puddles respectively. Isolates (n = 77; 54 hospital and 23 non‐hospital) were isolated comprising of 23 species among 17 genera (hospital sites), where the majority (10/16; 62·5%) of genera identified were Gram‐negative approximately, a fifth (20·6%) were shared by hospital and non‐hospital rural samples. Escherichia coli was detected in half of the hospital puddles and under‐half (37·5%) of the rural puddles extended spectrum β‐lactamase organisms were not detected in any samples examined. Rainwater puddles from the hospital and non‐hospital environments contain a diverse range of bacteria, which are capable of causing infections.