Investigation of Breastfeeding Related Microbial Diversity in Mastitis Women and Their Infants in Anbar Governorate, Iraq

Abstract Background: Mastitis is an infectious disease that is, common during lactation. The primary etiological agent of mastitis is bacterial infection. However, the diversity of bacteria community in infant oral cavity, women breast, and nipple remains uncharacterized till now. Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the isolated bacteria and fungi in samples from lactation mastitis-affected women’s breast, milk, nipple, and infant oral cavities. Materials and Methods: In this study, 100 women with mastitis symptoms were included 800 swabs were collected from mastitis women and their infants. Two swabs were collected from different sites of infection breast, milk, nipple, and infant oral cavity under sterile conditions. Results: The result showed that Staphylococcus aureus was the most dominant isolated bacterial species in different sample 138 (66%), followed by Klebsiella pneumonia 61 (29%) and Lactobacillus acidophilus 10 (5%). Conclusion: Candida albicans was the most frequently isolated fungal species in different sample 262 (91%), followed by Candida tropicalis 27 (9%). These results demonstrated that the Infant oral cavity S. aureus may be the main cause of mastitis infectious in lactating women in Iraq.