Bacterial Contamination of Stored Blood Ready for Transfusion at a Referral Hospital in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: After the discovery of Human Immuno -deficiency virus, screening of blood donors practically reduced viral pathogens. However, transfusion associated bacterial sepsis, which causes high mortality and morbidity remain an important public health concern, has been received very little attention in the African set up including Ethiopia. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of bacterial contamination of blood and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern at Debre Markos referal hospital, North West Ethiopia. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted using randomly sampled 120 whole blood units. The blood samples were obtained from screened, stored whole blood. All laboratory activities were carried out as Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) protocol. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. P<0.005 is statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of bacterial contamination among stored blood was 12.5%. Gram positive bacteria (S. pneumonia, S. auraus, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, viridian streptococcus) and gram negative (S. typhi, E. coli and K. pneumonia) were the common isolates identified. The isolated bacterial organisms showed varying susceptibility to the antibiotics tested. All isolated gram positive organisms were resistance to Tetracycline and susceptible to Ceftriaxone. Similarly, all the gram negative organisms isolated were resistance to Cotrimoxazole and susceptible to Ciprofloxacin and Cefoxicitin Conclusion: In our study, we conclude the existence of this serious clinical issue (contamination of blood, development of drug resistance) and need for further surveillance and/or study.