Megan Sushil

ABSTRACT:

Bacterial contamination of contact cases is a common problem in the world today. The smooth, wet surfaces of contact cases provide an ideal substrate for bacterial biofilms to form. In some instances, contact wearers simply do not wash their cases frequently enough. For others, even though they may wash their cases frequently, they do not use the correct disinfectant method to remove the bacteria from their case. In our experiment, we utilized Gram staining tests, microscopy, selective and differential media, an anaerobic growth chamber, and enzyme specific tests to determine what bacteria were present in 3 contact cases collected from the area of Gainesville, Florida.