Microbial contamination of non-sterile pharmaceutical products made in hospitals in the North East Thames Regional Health Authority.
Non-sterile pharmaceutical products made in nine hospitals in the North East Thames Regional Health Authority were examined for microbial contamination as part of a quality assurance programme. The incidence of contamination was found to vary between hospitals, but in all cases improvements were seen during the 3-year monitoring period in the microbiological quality of products made in individual hospitals. The most common isolates were aerobic spore bearers--usually less than 10(2) colony forming units/g or ml. Gram-negative isolates were found in at least one product from each hospital. Pseudomonas spp. were isolated from several samples of peppermint water.
D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D008131:London; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital; D013242:Sterilization