Microbiological Quality of Paediatric Oral Liquid Drug Formulations during Consumption

This preliminary study was conducted to evaluate the microbiological quality of paediatric oral liquid drug formulations during consumption. Paracetamol, Salbutamol, Cephalexin, Amoxicillin and Lactulose are few oral liquid medicines prescribed in Sri Lanka. These oral liquid medicines are at a greater risk of microbial contamination during consumption. This can lead to co-infection in paediatric patients. Therefore, it is important to evaluate microbial quality of oral liquid medicines during consumption. In methodology, organoleptic examination, pH determination and assessment of microbiological quality of two bottles from each five commercially available samples were done. Selective media were employed for quantification and isolation of the microbial contaminants. Quantification of viable microbial colonies was expressed as colony forming units per mililitre (cfu/ml). These procedures were conducted in duplicates at each consumption day and cfu/ml was expressed as a mean. All liquid drug formulations had <1000 cfu/ml bacteria during the consumption period except Lactulose, which had 12733 cfu/ml bacteria during the last consumption day. In conclusion, this study has revealed that the good microbial quality of paediatric oral liquid drug formulations should be maintained during consumption period.