For public-use facilities in urban centers with high occupancy, it is imperative to effectively manage opportunistic pathogenic bacteria due to the diverse range of users, including the immunocompromised population, such as the elderly, children. Therefore, we investigated the concentration of airborne bacteria at several public-use facilities in urban centers in South Korea. The level of total airborne bacteria in the facilities was positively correlated with user density and CO₂ levels. Notably, subway compartments demonstrated particularly high levels of airborne bacteria. Subway compartments and daycare centers contained opportunistic pathogenic bacteria associated with antibiotic resistance. The relative abundance of genera associated with these species showed minor differences by season and facility; the genera Klebsiella and Staphylococcus showed high relative abundance in subway compartments and daycare centers, respectively. Based on our findings, we recommend enhancing management strategies targeting opportunistic pathogenic bacteria related to antibiotic resistance in the air of subway compartments and daycare centers.

对于使用率较高的城市中心的公共设施，由于使用者范围广泛，其中包括老年人、儿童等免疫功能低下人群，因此有效管理机会致病菌势在必行。因此，我们调查了韩国市中心几个公共设施的空气细菌浓度。设施中空气细菌总数的水平与用户密度和CO ₂水平呈正相关。值得注意的是，地铁车厢的空气细菌含量特别高。地铁车厢和日托中心含有与抗生素耐药性相关的机会致病菌。与这些物种相关的属的相对丰度因季节和设施的不同而存在微小差异；克雷伯菌属和葡萄球菌属分别在地铁车厢和日托中心表现出较高的相对丰度。根据我们的研究结果，我们建议加强针对地铁车厢和日托中心空气中与抗生素耐药性相关的机会致病菌的管理策略。