bacterial contamination of single- and multiple-dose vials after multiple use and intravenous admixtures in three different hospitals in iran

there is possibility of microbial contamination of any single-dose vials (sdvs), multiple-dose vials (mdvs) and admixtures (adxs) during the preparation and injection to the patients that could be resulted in bloodstream infection. the goal of this study was to investigate the microbial contamination of mdvs and sdvs after multiple use and adxs prepared by nursing staff in the treatment room versus those prepared by the hospital pharmacist in the clean room. the sterility of 43 opened mdvs and sdvs, 92 prepared adxs in treatment room and 17 prepared adxs in clean room were studied by membrane filtration method. only one of 92 adxs prepared in treatment room was contaminated with bacillus subtilis (%1.1) and none of the adxs prepared in clean room, mdvs and sdvs had microbial contamination. although good sanitization practices and training of nurses could reduce the risk of microbial contamination in traditional units, using clean room for preparation of parenteral products could be the best strategy.