Bacteriological quality of some pharmaceutical products marketed by drug vendors in Uyo, Nigeria

Bacteriological quality of some pharmaceutical products purchased from open markets, buses and drug stores in Uyo metropolis was studied in order to determine the level of contamination of the drugs. The drug samples examined were Tetracycline capsules, Paracetamol tablets, Ampicillin capsules, Chloroquine tablets, Chloroquine syrup, Chloroquine injections, Flagyl tablets and Chloramphenicol tablets. The bacterial count ranged from 2.3x10(4) cfu/g to 4.4x10(4) cfu/g for the 16 samples of Ampicillin, 1.2x10(5) cfu/g to 1.8x10 (4) cfu/g for the 7 samples of unsealed capsules of tetratcycline, 2.9x10(4) cfu/g to 3.8 x10(4) cfu/g for the 15 samples of paracetamol, 3.8 x10(4) cfu/ml to 2.0 x10(4) cfu/ml for the 23 samples of Chloroquine injection, tablets and syrup 1.0 x10(4) cfu/g to 4.8 x10(4) cfu/g for 15 samples of Flagyl. The organisms isolated were Bacillus subtilis (19.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (25.0%), Aerobacter aerogenes (7.0%) and Proteus mirabilis (8.0%). Although the counts obtained from this work were of low levels, the presence of known pathogenic microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis in some drugs constitute a health hazard to the public.