TITLE:
Bacterial Contamination of Blood and Blood Products at Mbarara Regional Blood Bank in Rural South Western Uganda
AUTHORS:
G. B. Matte Aloysius, Bazira Joel, Richard Apecu, Boum Yap II, Frederick Byarugaba
KEYWORDS:
Bacterial Contamination; Blood/Blood Products; Staphylococci
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
5,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Screening blood donors has practically eliminated viral and
bacterial pathogens in blood used for transfusion. However,
transfusion-associated bacterial sepsis remains an important health-care
concern and the commonest cause of transfusion-related fatality in resource
limited settings. Data on bacterial contamination of blood are scarce while the
demand of blood
transfusion is continuously growing. Therefore we conducted a study to
determine the prevalence and type of bacterial contamination in donor blood and
blood products, at the Mbarara Regional Blood Bank. Methodology: A total of 510 units of screened blood and blood
products consisting of refrigerated whole blood and packed cells were randomly
sampled following aseptic procedures from Mbarara Regional Blood Bank. Two
samples from each unit were collected in universal containers containing Brain
Heart Infusion Broth and incubated at 37℃ for up to 7 days. Subcultures were carried out on
Blood agar, Chocolate agar and MacConkey agar. Isolates were identified by
standard microbiologic techniques and drug susceptibility testing was performed
by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: Of the 510 samples collected between June and
October 2012, 18 (3.5%) samples showed growth. The contaminants were Staphylococcus aureus 17/18 (94.4%) and Streptococcus viridans 1/18 (5.6%). Isolates were sensitive to erythomycin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol
and ciprofloxacin and resistant to penicillin and cloxacillin. Conclusion: Blood and blood products
from Mbarara Regional Blood have unacceptable levels of bacterial contamination
that can affect patient safety especially in an area with high malaria endemicity.
Therefore it is critical to improve hygiene precautions in order to minimize
bacterial contamination and ensure patient safety.