The prevalence of multidose vial contamination by aerobic bacteria in a major teaching hospital, Shiraz, Iran, 2006
published online 13 April 2009.
Background
Parenteral medications are usually given out in multidose vials (MDVs) and can be used for a prolonged period for 1 or more patients. The risk of extrinsic contamination of MDVs and its consequences may be serious and may lead to an outbreak, especially in hospitals. Therefore, bacterial contamination of multiple-dose medication vials in Namazi Hospital, the major referral teaching hospital, in Shiraz, southwestern Iran, was evaluated.
Methods
In a period of 4 months, all used MDVs in Namazi Hospital were collected by the infection control nurses. Information was recorded about the medication, labeling of vials, storing temperature, wards, and dates of opening. Remained contents of each vial were also tested for aerobic bacteria. Microbial contamination was confirmed by microbiologic methods.
Results
Bacterial contamination was identified in 36 of 637 (5.6%) of vials, with no difference in contamination among different wards in the hospital or the medication type. Most commonly identified organisms were part of the normal commensally flora. Gram-positive bacteria (88.9%) were more significantly involved than gram-negative ones (11.1%), with the highest frequency for Staphylococcus epidermidis (44.4%) and the lowest for Actinomyces viscosus (2.8%).
Conclusion
Although the clinical significance is not resolved at this point, infection control practices should be emphasized considering this potential source of nosocomial infection.
aDepartment of Bacteriology and Virology, Shiraz Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
bDepartment of Community Medicine, Shiraz Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Address correspondence to M. Motamedifar, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Department of Bacteriology and Virology, Shiraz Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 71455-119 Shiraz, Iran.
Supported by the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences grant No. 2398.
ABSTRACT