ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Alija Baig , Kamran Ahmad Chishti, Farhat Ali Khan and Zia ur Rahman
1Sarhad University of Science & Information Technology Peshawar, Pakistan.
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2015;9(2):1317-1329
© The Author(s). 2015
Received: 06/04/2015 | Accepted: 08/06/2015 | Published: 30/06/2015
Abstract

To evaluate the microbiological sterility of disposable syringes used in the Peshawar region of KPK, Pakistan. Our aim of study was to affirm that whether or not these Disposable syringes really meet the criteria of safety for which it is intended to be used. Whilst the study also included the determination of the microbial status of the used disposable syringes collected from the Hospital waste and the sterile status of the Lab re processed Disposable syringes. Random samples of disposable syringes were collected from local market and Government tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar, KPK. The sterility of these syringes was assessed using United States Pharmacopoeia’s standards for the sterility tests. The tests for evaluation of sterility were carried out as per SOPs (standard operating procedures) applied for controlled environment and equipments in a microbiological lab. More over for the Lab reprocessing the SOP was developed under the light of the standard guide lines. Microbial growth was observed both in ethylene oxide and radiation sterilized (manufacturer’s claim) syringes. 1ml Disposable syringes gamma radiated and ETO (ethylene oxide) treated showed microbial growth in 33% and 44% of selected samples respectively, similarly 53% and 51% of samples showed microbial contamination in 5ml Syringes of both local and Hospital collected items respectively. In case of 3ml and 10 ml syringes microbial growth was observed in 40% and 65% of samples respectively. It was interesting to find that microbial growth was observed in most vulnerable parts of syringes which are in direct contact with human body or medication like needle and plunger where as the lab reprocessed Disposable syringes also showed comprehensive growth of both bacterial and fungal growth. Our study concluded that there are chances of microbial contamination in such disposable syringes and may have the deleterious effect on the health of the individuals so precautions must be observed to avert all those possibilities which may cause the contamination of these items. The point worthy to mention over here is that the Disposable syringes which were lab reprocessed also shown considerable growth of the microbial organisms which strengthen the fact that SUDs should not be reprocessed as these items cannot with stands to the high temperature of Auto clave and because of the complex structure and narrow lumen the chemical sterilization cannot guarantee these items safety for the reuse.

Keywords

Disposable syringes, Plunger, needle assembly, Ethylene Oxide, Sterilization

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© The Author(s) 2015. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.