Microbial contamination of nonsterile pharmaceuticals in public hospital settings

Figures & data

Table 1 Label information and sources of analyzed pharmaceuticals

Product type	Brand/active ingredient	Manufacture date	Expiry date	Manufacturer	Batch no.
Tablet	Paracetamol	May 2007	April 2011	Shellys, Tz	7294
Tablet	Aspirin	Oct 2005	Sept 2008	Shellys, Tz	8159
Tablet	Vitamin B complex	July 2007	June 2011	Shellys, Tz	7026
Tablet	Ferrous sulfate	June 2007	May 2009	Simrone, India	776
Capsule	Indomethacin	Jan 2007	Dec 2009	Simrone, India	315
Capsule	Doxycycline	Dec 2006	Nov 2008	Keko, Tz	0269
Capsule	Amoxicillin	Dec 2007	Nov 2008	Keko, Tz	087
PC syrup	Broncolin Paediatric^®	May 2007	April 2009	Interchem, Tz	POS7030
Cough syrup	Glycodin^®	June 2007	May 2010	Alembic, India	7201014HE
Disinfectant	Eusol	Jan 2007	Dec 2007	Interchem, Tz	EUS7012

Abbreviations: PC, Pediatric cough syrup; Tz, Tanzania.

Table 2 Isolated and identified microbial contaminants

Item	Viable counts (cfu/mL)
	Bacillus spp	Candida spp	Aspergillus spp	Klebsiella spp
Paracetamol tablets	9	–	–	1.9 × 10^2
Ferrous sulphate tablets	1.72 × 10^3	4.3 × 10^2	–	–
Aspirin tablets	4.0 × 10^1	3.2 × 10^2	–	–
Vitamin B complex tablets	2.3 × 10^1	6	3	–
Indomethacin capsules	–	–	–	4.8 × 10^3
Doxycycline capsules	4.7 × 10^2	–	–	–
Glycodin^® syrup	2.5 × 10^1	2	–	6.0 × 10^3
Broncolin Paediatric^®	5	–	1	–
Amoxycillin capsules	–	6.0 × 10^1	–	–
Eusol solution	–	7	–	–

Abbreviations: cfu, colony forming units; spp, species.

Table 3 Susceptibility patterns of isolated bacterial contaminants

Drug name	Diameter of ZI (mm)			Comment
	Bacillus spp	Klebsiella spp	Reference S. aureus
Augmentin^® 10 μg	–	–	12	R
Tetracycline 10 μg	22	20	20	S
Cloxacillin 5 μg	–	–	15	R
Ampicillin 10 μg	20	14	24	S
Levofloxacillin 25 μg	30	34	30	S
Ceftriaxone 10 μg	32	16	34	S

Abbreviations: S, sensitive; r, Resistant; spp, species; S. aureus, Staphylococcus aureus; ZI, zones of inhibition.

Table 4 Susceptibility patterns of Candida albicans (contaminants) to antifungal agents

Concentration (μg/mL)	Diameter of ZI (mm)		Comment
	Fluconazole	Ketoconazole
0.1	52	41	S
0.05	48	40	S
0.02	44	40	S
0.01	44	38	S
0.005	40	37	S

Abbreviations: S, sensitive; ZI, zones of inhibition.