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2019 Month : December Volume : 8 Issue : 52 Page : 3964-3967Microbiological Safety of Using Eye Drops for More Than a Month.
Aarthi Rajamanickam1, Manjula T. Rajendran2, Sumangala Basavarajaiah3, Prathibha Shiveshi4
Corresponding Author:
Dr. Aarthi Rajamanickam,
#50, Victoria Colony, 3rd Street,
Medical College Road,
Thanjavur-613004, Tamilnadu, India.
E-mail: aarthirajamanickam1@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
Contaminated ocular eye drops represent the potential source of preventable ocular infection. The present study was carried out for determining the patterns and magnitude of microbiological contamination of the ocular eye drops in an outpatient clinic in the Ophthalmology Department.
METHODS
A prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital of Mandya district. A total of 60 eye drop bottles used for more than a month were gathered for nearly 6 months. The samples were assembled from the residual fluid present in the bottle and the tip of the dropper. These collected drops are then inoculated on the plates of different culture media such as blood agar and MacConkey agar, and the resultant growth of microbial organisms were then identified using the standard microbial identification techniques.
RESULTS
9 out of 60 analyzed bottles showed contamination. The identified bacteria belonged to commensal flora in the eye. The contaminants isolated had coagulase-negative Staphylococci, Acinetobacter and Micrococci. The dropper tips (n=6) were found to be contaminated more than the residual fluid (n=1). Two (n=2) of the bottles showed contamination in both the tip and residual fluid. The mean contamination percentage for this study is 15% which is equal to that of other studies.
CONCLUSIONS
According to our study, the contamination rate was found to be 15 % which specifies the correct handling and proper application of eye drops. The health care professionals or providers should be aware of this and they must educate the patients and the relatives accompanying them about proper usage of the eye drops.
KEY WORDS
Eye Drops, Contamination, Microbial, Preservatives, Extended Use