John O Akerele , Godwin C Ukoh

For correspondence:-  John Akerele   Email: akerelej@uniben.edu

Published: 24 June 2002

Citation: Akerele JO, Ukoh GC. Aspects of microbial contamination of tablets dispensed in hospitals and community pharmacies in Benin City, Nigeria. Trop J Pharm Res 2002; 1(1):23-28 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v1i1.4

© 2002 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: A research was carried out to investigate the incidence of microflora in tablets dispensed from large  container  packages  used in hospitals and community pharmacies. It  was designed to provide baseline data on the common biodegrading microorganisms associated with tablets in retail containers and to highlight the health  implications  of  such observations  and  roles  for  pharmacists  in  self  medication phenomenon in Nigeria.
Methods:  The  protocol  for  the  study  involved  structured  selection of  representative named tablets  from  some public  hospitals  and  community  pharmacies  within  Benin  metropolis. Constitutive microorganisms were elaborated and enumerated using standard microbiological protocols.
Results: Our results showed that all the tablets sampled had some form of microbial growth.  However, aerobic mesophilic bacteria and fungi  observed were within standard numerical limits. It was additionally observed that ascorbic acid and folic acid tablets, particularly from the community pharmacies failed the exclusive  criteria for   Enterobactereacea and  Staphylococci.  Tablets  from public  hospitals  in general  have lower incidence of exclusive microbial contamination, compared with community pharmacies.
Conclusion:  Tablets  packed in large containers in retail  pharmacies in Benin City  are often contaminated
with  microbial  growth.  This  has  possible adverse  consequences  for  those  who obtain drugs stored  in large containers.