Bacterial contamination in blood and blood products

: Skin disinfection during phlebotomy is a critical step for bacterial contamination of blood and blood products. The aim of this study was to investigate the bacterial contamination rates during phlebotomy and to detect the probable microorganisms present. Skin disinfections of 100 blood donors were performed by using povidone iodine solution with standard procedure. Fifteen mililiters of blood samples were drawn from the transfusion set and inoculated into culture flasks of automated Bact/Alert (BioMerieux) system. Blood cultures were monitorized for one week, and bacteria in positive cultures were identified by using classical microbiological methods in addition with API identification system (BioMerieux; ID32 Staph, 20 Strep). As a result, bacterial growth was detected in four (4%) of the blood samples, whereas 96% of the samples were found sterile. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the microorganism which had been grown in three of the samples, and Streptococcus mutans in one. The positivity rate detected in our study was considered high, since expected bacterial contamination rates in blood transfusions were between 0.2-0.5%. This data indicated that the procedures used in phlebotomy such as the choice of phlebotomy region, disinfectant use and disinfection time should be re-evaluated in our blood centre.