The transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria from hospital door handles is a major public health concern worldwide. The antibiogram of enteric bacteria isolated from door handles of some selected hospital in Jos was determined. Swabs from door handles of various units such as private ward, surgical ward, medical ward, theatre, laboratory and toilet were cultured in peptone water, then transferred into MacConkey agar. Enteric bacteria isolated were identified using relevant biochemical test such as oxidase, citrate, urease, catalase, indole, triple sugar iron (TSI), and motility test. Antibiogram of bacterial isolates was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method with nine antibiotics tested on the isolates. The prevalence of enteric bacteria was 36.67%. Enteric bacteria isolated include Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1(4.5%), Proteus vulgaris 5(22.7%), Enterobacter spp 4(18.2%), Escherichia coli 4(18.2%), Klebsiella spp 2(9.1%) and Shigella spp 6(27.3%).Shigella spp (27.3%) were the most frequently occurring isolates while Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.5%) was the least.There is no significant difference in the distribution of the isolates in the different sites of the hospitals (P>0.05) at 95% confidence limit using Chi-square test. Antibiotics like Ofloxacin (86.4%), Ciprofloxacin (86.4%) and Meropenem (95.5%) exhibited excellent activity on the bacterial isolate, while Ceftazidime was mostly resisted by all isolates. Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed resistance to all antibiotic tested. The study also revealed the antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolates to the tested antibiotics. The need for more surveillance studies on these bacteria from other sources and environments is hereby recommended. The microorganism transmission as well as infection prevention from door handles can be reduced by practicing good hygiene as well as hand sanitizer use and daily washing as well as restrooms cleaning with antiseptics.

Keywords: Antibiogram, Enteric bacteria, Hospital door handles