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Skin flora and bacterial contamination of diversion pouch and recovered platelet components in Moroccan blood donors
Author(s) -
EL Mehdaoui Fatna,
Benajiba Mohammed,
Boulahdid Safia,
El Hattimy Faiçal,
Soulaymani Abdelmajid,
Alami Raouf
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
transfusion medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1365-3148
pISSN - 0958-7578
DOI - 10.1111/tme.12704
Subject(s) - staphylococcus aureus , staphylococcus , coagulase , microbiology and biotechnology , skin flora , corynebacterium , bacillus (shape) , moraxella , micrococcus , contamination , staphylococcus epidermidis , biology , medicine , bacteria , ecology , genetics
Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate bacterial reduction procedures used during whole‐blood donations in Morocco. Background Bacterial contamination still poses serious challenges to blood safety, especially in countries with limited resources. Methods In the first part of this study, we analysed 233 swab samples taken from blood donors' antecubital fossa. After donation, a second batch of samples was analysed from the diversion pouches of corresponding donors. In addition, we searched for the prevalence of bacterial contamination in 568 randomly chosen platelet components at their expiration date in order to control for the entire blood unit preparation process. Results The most frequently found bacterial species at the antecubital fossa of healthy blood donors were coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus , aerophilic Corynebacterium , Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus sp. and Micrococcus sp. After donation, 5.15% of the diversion pouches were contaminated with bacterial species, the most notable being Bacillus sp., aerophilic Corynebacterium , coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus , Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Of 568 platelet components, 18 were contaminated with three bacterial species: Bacillus sp., coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus . Conclusion All three bacterial species found in platelet components were detected on the skin of blood donors. Serious measures need to be taken and enforced to ensure blood safety.