Microbial contamination of disinfectants and antiseptics in four major hospitals in Trinidad

Abstract

Our results show that contaminated disinfectants/antiseptics pose a health risk to patients, particularly in the pediatric and surgical wards. The high prevalence of resistance to antimicrobial agents exhibited by the Pseudomonas spp. that were isolated is of special therapeutic concern.

Bacteriological Evaluation of Antiseptic Solutions Used to Keep Cheattle’s Forceps

“…As expected, positive rates of contamination increased with passage of time, a finding again consistent with other reports [1,8]. Gram-negative bacteria, especially Pseudomonas, followed by E. coli were the commonest to be cultured, as has been found in other studies [2,3,6,7].…”

“…These are bacteriological contamination and loss of their anti-microbial activity over a period of time, thus necessitating its change to a fresh solution. There are many reports using bacterial culture to determine contamination of in-use (not from bottles keeping the Cheattle's forceps) antiseptics and disinfections [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. These reported the following:…”

“…3. Pseudomonas was the commonest bacteria to be cultured [2,3,6,7]. Its resistance to microbial agents was a concern [2].…”

Emergence of resistance to antibacterial agents: the role of quaternary ammonium compounds—a critical review

“…Pseudomonas sp. responsible for contamination of disinfectant containing cetrimide were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents, with the prevalence of resistance to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, tobramycin and gentamicin being 58.3%, 50.0%, 45.8% and 41.7%, respectively [88].…”

Untitled

“…However, a significant proportion of pathogens is not only resistant to disinfectants, but can also grow in them. Both growth and concentration of the colony forming units of bacteria at sites of application of disinfectants and antiseptics have been reported in the literature (Gajadhar et al, 2003), but information about the linkage of resistance profiles to disinfectants and antimicrobial agents against a few bacterial species is available so far. Therefore, existing data seem insufficient for the empirical application of disinfectants (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2009).…”