Temperatures of storage areas in large animal veterinary practice vehicles in the summer and comparison with drug manufacturers’ storage recommendations

Abstract

BackgroundLarge animal veterinarians carry drugs in their practice vehicles in storage areas that are not typically refrigerated. The most common upper limits of manufacturers’ storage temperatures for United States (U.S.)-approved non-refrigerated drugs are 25 or 30 °C. Because ambient temperatures in many locations in the U.S. exceed these temperatures during the summer, we measured storage area temperatures over 4 months in the summer of 2013 to evaluate the extent to which labeled storage temperatures are exceeded.MethodsA convenience sample of 12 vehicles from 5 central Texas practices and 12 vehicles from 4 south central Nebraska practices was used. Temperatures were recorded in one drug storage compartment in each vehicle from May 15 – September 16, 2013, at 15-minute intervals using a self-contained, battery operated temperature recording device.ResultsThe highest temperatures recorded in a storage unit were 54.4 and 47.7 °C in Texas and Nebraska, respectively. The mean temperature recorded across all 24 storage units was 29.1 °C, with a mean of 26.9 °C in Nebraska and 31.4 °C in Texas. In Nebraska, at least one temperature over 25 °C was recorded on a mean of 111/124 days and a mean of 63 % of total logger readings. In Texas, temperatures over 25 °C were recorded on a mean of 123/124 days and a mean of 95 % of total logger readings.ConclusionsTemperatures in storage units in participating veterinary practice vehicles exceeded labeled drug storage temperatures a significant portion of the summer of 2013. More research is needed to determine whether these excursions above the manufacturers’ recommended storage temperatures alter efficacy of stored drugs.

Assessment of veterinary drug retail outlets in two rural areas of Kwara state, north-central Nigeria

“…Most drugs have a storage temperature requirement of less than that and is likely to reduce drug potency. In the United States (US), the upper limits of manufacturers' storage temperatures for approved non-refrigerated drugs are between 25 and 30 °C (Ondrak et al, 2015). It may therefore be worthwhile to carry out studies to determine the effect of storage on veterinary drug potency.…”

Handling and storing medicines on beef and dairy farms

“…Vaccines may be delivered by practice members (eg, vets going out to farm visits) or picked up from a practice by the clients themselves. Veterinary vehicles and veterinary medicine storage compartments are routinely reported to exceed the temperature storage requirements for most veterinary medicines (Ondrak and others 2015), so providing specific cool storage such as a cool box for the transportation of vaccines, both for vets and clients, would be a cost‐effective way of ensuring that the cold chain is maintained until vaccines reach a farm.…”

“…Rees and others (2019) found that expired veterinary medicines were stored on 25 of the 27 farms in their study. While some efficacy is assumed after the expiry date of unopened veterinary medicines, large‐scale studies and information on specific products are not widely available (Ondrak and others 2015). As it is difficult to assess how the expired products stored on farms are used, this warrants further investigation both from vets in practice as suppliers of veterinary medicines (ie, how often are products being used after the expiry date and why?)…”

How to transport veterinary drugs in insulated boxes to avoid thermal damage by heating or freezing

“…Beside bags [ 13 ], although boxes are used to transport and store temperature-sensitive drugs in veterinary vehicles [ 2 , 3 , 14 ], it often remains unclear whether they are appropriate for this purpose. However, to the knowledge of the authors, no systematic investigations on the suitability or practicability of passive storage boxes for drug transport in vehicles have been published so far.…”

“…Both exceedance of the upper temperature limit and a shortfall of the temperature to below the lower limit (e.g., freezing) must be considered. The discrepancy between the thermal needs and requirements to store drugs and the realities was shown by Haberleitner et al [ 2 ] and Ondrak et al [ 14 ] for veterinary vehicles.…”