Bacterial contamination of bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant products typically occurs with skin flora or, rarely, gram-negative organisms. We describe a clonal outbreak of contamination in transplant products caused by contamination with an aerobic actinomycete that occurred at our institution during the summer of 2001. From 1 July through 12 September 2001, 73 peripheral bl...

Bacterial contamination of blood components is a persistent but often overlooked problem in transfusion medicine. Although public attention has focused on transfusion-transmitted viral infection, improved methods of screening through donor questioning and testing have greatly reduced the transmission of hepatitis viruses and retroviruses. Given the reduction of viral transmission via allogeneic...

Sir, the recent article by Steinhauer et al. [1] is very interesting. Steinhauer et al. reported that “primary packaging material and use were not found to pose a significant contamination risk as far as bacterial spores are concerned” [1]. In fact, the contamination of hand disinfectants and skin antiseptics can be expected. In tropical world where the climate is proper for the growth of patho...

Dermal contamination from products such as pesticide formulations may be measured by adding a fluorescent dye as a tracer, and photographing the glow of the dye on the skin under ultraviolet light. The Fluorescence Interactive Video Exposure System (FIVES) fluorescence monitor, developed at the Health and Safety Laboratory, uses calibrations of intensity of glow against surface concentration of...

Surgical site infections (SSIs) remain an important cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality and generate considerable additional healthcare and societal costs. Most SSIs are caused by skin-derived bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Antimicrobial resistance among these and other clinically important pathogens is an increasing problem. Thus, while ...