Objective. - Evaluate and improve the microbiological quality of the antiseptics prepared at the pharmacy of the Rabat Specialties Hospital. Method. - We applied the method of filtration onto membrane according to the indications appearing in the 5th edition of European Pharmacopeia in order to study the microbiological quality of the Dakin's solution, ethyl alcohol 70 degrees and hydrogen peroxide 10 V. Five culture mediums were used. In order to identify the suspicious germs, we used standard methods and identification galleries. The microbiological contamination threshold is 100 CFU/ml for the total viable aerobic germs; 10 CFU/ml for the enterobacteries; 0 CFU/ml for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stophylococcus aureus; and 10 CFU/ml for the moulds and the fungi. We worked on 54 samples for each antiseptic. We controlled the microbiological quality of the five raw materials. Forty-five samples on the whole have been taken. The suppliers whose raw materials have been found contaminated have been changed and the new raw materials were analyzed by taking 21 samples. Lastly, in order to be sure of the effectiveness of the corrective measure used, we applied a last microbiological control of the Dakin's solution prepared with the new raw materials supplied by the new suppliers. Results. - Apart from hydrogen peroxide 10V found compliant, the other antiseptics were contaminated by P aeruginosa and S. aureus. To mitigate this problem, we changed the raw materials whose microbiological analysis showed they were in conformity with the specifications of the 5th edition of European Pharmacopeia. The last control of the Dakin's solution gave compliant results. Conclusion. - Though the most frequent causes are practically known, the nosocomial infections related to the contamination of antiseptics are probably underestimated and they risk increasing in absence of the application of appropriate precautionary measures. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
