Colonizing the clinic: tracking bacterial succession and longitudinal dynamics in five new hospital departments over an entire year.

ABSTRACT: The development of hospital-associated microbial communities over time remains poorly characterized, particularly in terms of how microbial populations dynamically respond to changes in building function, the integration of molecular and cultivation-based data, and the early identification of intervention points for flexible, adaptive microbial control strategies. In this longitudinal study, we investigated microbiome dynamics across five newly built departments at the University Hospital of Graz, Austria, over one year. Surface samples were collected at seven time points: before and after hospital operation started. Alpha and beta diversity analyses revealed a distinct two-phase microbial transition, marked by an initial disruption followed by a gradual homogenization of microbial communi

SUBMITTER: Weinberger V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12671206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature