Bacteriological quality of some pharmaceutical products marketed by drug vendors in Uyo, Nigeria

Abstract

Bacteriological quality of some pharmaceutical products purchased from open markets, buses and drug stores in Uyo metropolis was studied in order to determine the level of contamination of the drugs. The drug samples examined were Tetracycline capsules, Paracetamol tablets, Ampicillin capsules, Chloroquine tablets, Chloroquine syrup, Chloroquine injections, Flagyl tablets and Chloramphenicol tablets. The bacterial count ranged from 2.3x10⁴ cfu/g to 4.4x10⁴ cfu/g for the 16 samples of Ampicillin, 1.2x10⁵ cfu/g to 1.8x10⁴ cfu/g for the 7 samples of unsealed capsules of tetratcycline, 2.9x10⁴ cfu/g to 3.8 x10⁴ cfu/g for the 15 samples of paracetamol, 3.8 x10⁴ cfu/ml to 2.0 x10⁸ cfu/ml for the 23 samples of Chloroquine injection, tablets and syrup 1.0 x10⁴ cfu/g to 4.8 x10⁴ cfu/g for 15 samples of Flagyl. The organisms isolated were Bacillus subtilis (19.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (25.0%), Aerobacter aerogenes (7.0%) and Proteus mirabilis (8.0%). Although the counts obtained from this work were of low levels, the presence of known pathogenic microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis in some drugs constitute a health hazard to the public.

African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 11(3-4) 2004: 128-133