Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Microbiological Quality of Blister Pack Tablets in Community Pharmacies in Jordan

Qasem M Abu Shaqra¹ , Maissa T Shawaqfah², Walid Al Momani²

¹Consultant Microbiologist, Jordan Medical Solutions Manufacturing Company, Zarqa; ²Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Zarqa University College, Al- Balqa Applied University, Jordan.

For correspondence:- Qasem Shaqra Email: qabushaqra@hotmail.com Tel:+00952795009808

Received: 1 January 2012 Accepted: 15 December 2013 Published: 20 February 2014

Citation: Shaqra QM, Shawaqfah MT, Momani WA. Microbiological Quality of Blister Pack Tablets in Community Pharmacies in Jordan. Trop J Pharm Res 2014; 13(2):261-266 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i2.15

© 2014 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the microbiological quality of blister-packed tablets manufactured and marketed in Jordan in order to assess Good Manufacturing Practice by pharmaceutical industries in the country.

Methods: A total of 66 items of 22 registered blister-packed tablet brands were purchased from community pharmacies in Amman. All the items were investigated for total bacterial count and the presence of specified microorganisms using compendial procedures.

Results: Out of 66 items purchased, forty eight (72.7 %) products were free from microbial contamination, while 11 (16.7 %) harbored bacteria in counts < 102 cfu/g. The remaining 7 (10.6 %) items contained counts between 102 and < 103 cfu/g. The most commonly encountered contaminant was Bacillus species but specified objectionable bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aereus were not detected. Aspergillus and Penicillium species were isolated in low numbers from few products. Six of the products with the highest stratified bacterial count were manufactured by one company and were also found to be contaminated with Aeromonas species.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that blister-packed tablets produced by Jordanian pharmaceutical companies are within acceptable microbiological quality but the detection of microbial load in some brands close to the maximum allowable limit suggests the need for better adherence to GMP in the country.

Keywords: Blister pack, Community pharmacy, Good Manufacturing Practice, Microbial contamination, Quality control, Tablets