title: A retrospective audit of bacterial culture results of donated human milk in Perth, Western Australia.
abstract: The bacterial content of donated human milk is either endogenous or introduced via contamination. Defining milk bank bacterial content will allow researchers to devise appropriate tests for significant and commonly encountered organisms.
  
  
  
  A retrospective audit was conducted on data recorded from the Perron Rotary Express Milk Bank, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Subiaco, Western Australia. This aimed to describe the incidence of bacterial species detected in donated human milk and to identify potentially pathogenic bacteria.
  
  
  
  The data comprised of 2890 batches donated by 448 women between 2007 and 2011.
  
  
  
  Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) represented the highest prevalence of bacteria in donated milk, isolated from 85.5% of batches (range: 20 to 650,000CFU/mL) followed by Acinetobacter species in 8.1% of batches (range: 100 to 180,000CFU/mL). Staphylococcus aureus was the most prevalent potentially pathogenic bacteria in 5% of batches (range: 40 to 100,000CFU/mL).
  
  
  
  Further investigation is warranted to better define the risks posed by the presence of toxin-producing S. aureus in raw and pasteurized human milk which may allow minimization of risk to the preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia; School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia; Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.; School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Yahya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Almutawif
authors.affiliation: Perron Rotary Express Milk Bank, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Subiaco, WA, Australia; Centre for Neonatal Research and Education, The University of Western Australia Crawley, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia; School of Pediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia; Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.; School of Pediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.affiliation: School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Erber
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Electronic address: donna.geddes@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Geddes
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017784:Milk Banks / Q000592:standards*; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014904:Western Australia
keywords: Bacteria; Donor; Enterotoxin; Human milk; Human milk bank; Pasteurization; Pathogenic bacteria