OBJECTIVE To study the incidence of microbial contamination at the bone bank of the United Christian Hospital. DESIGN. Retrospective study. SETTING Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS A total of 151 patients (33 men and 118 women) who underwent hip arthroplasty surgery and from whom femoral head allografts were retrieved between January 1994 and March 2000; and 81 patients in whom allogr...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are largely preventable through risk analysis and modification of practice. Anaesthetic practice plays a limited role in the prevention of HAIs, although laryngoscope use and decontamination is an area of concern. We aimed to assess the level of microbial contamination of re-usable laryngoscope blades at a public hospital in South Af...

Laboratory animal models are an important part of test design. Certain conditions such as microbial contamination in diets of these models could affect the results of experiments. One of the most important routes that predispose to contamination is generated through feeding of laboratory animals. This study aimed to show the effect of gamma irradiation in reducing bacteria concentrations,...

A brief general description of the beef cattle slaughter process used in the United States of America is presented. Considerable variation in prevalence of microbial contamination at beef processing establishments has been reported. Primary factors which may explain this variation include: a) pathogen load on, or in, live animals entering the establishment; b) sanitation practices used by the e...