Hygiene monitoring in a hospital immunohaematological laboratory.

Purpose Of The Study: Not only in blood donation services, but also in the immunohaematological laboratory of a hospital including the depository for blood products a hygiene plan must be drawn up and its realization has to be documented.

Material And Methods: From 2011 to 2014, some equipment in the depository and in the immunohematological laboratory was microbiologically monitored once a year. The examinations were done by direct contact cultures taken from several places of each device.

Results: Most of the devices showed inconspicuous numbers of environmental microorganisms. Sometimes the refrigerators for fresh frozen plasma and a transport container for blood products revealed moderately, the incubator in the laboratory and a transport container for patient blood samples inadequately increased bacterial contamination.

Conclusion: Microbiological examinations can detect critical points in the immunohaematological laboratory of a hospital. By communicating these results, the staff can be motivated to observe the regulations of the hygiene plan.