Bacteriological Assessment of Spoilt Pharmaceutical Products Sold in Yola Metropolis Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Forty samples of spoilt pharmaceutical products (oral and ophthalmic) were collected from three different patent medicine stores and screened for potential bacteria contaminants using standard laboratory techniques. Of the 40 samples screened, 36 (90%) were seen to be contaminated by 5 different types of bacteria namely Bacillus species, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium species, Micrococcus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa while 4 (10%) were free of contamination. The range of bacteria count for the oral and ophthalmic products ranges from 1.6 x 102 CFU/ml– 9.9 x 102 CFU/ml and 2.7 x 102 CFU/ml– 9.7 x 102 CFU/ml respectively. The presence of these pathogenic organisms may contribute to the spoilage of these products and also may be source of infection to the consumers. Therefore, good manufacturing practices, packaging, storage and distribution should be enforced