Articles

Inspired by the Fortune 500, the Pharmacy500 is awarded by RXinsider to 500 pharmacy supply chain businesses and national associations that significantly impacted dispensing pharmacies in the U.S. over a years’ time. From driving operational efficiencies to supporting exemplary patient care, this achievement represents companies that are shaping the pharmacy landscape.

U.S. Micro-Solutions & Stratix Labs Announce Collaboration to Provide Surface Sampling Competency Testing for USP <797> Compliance Using Enverify™ Microbial-coated Test Surfaces U.S. Micro-Solutions, Inc. a leading laboratory that provides microbiology testing services for sterile compounding pharmacies, and Stratix Labs, a biomaterials company manufacturing innovative standard-setting products for surface sampling competency testing and other microbiology applications, have announced a partnership […]

A Bacillus by Any Other Name….still produces spores Members of the family Bacillaceae, including Bacillus and related genera, can produce endospores, which form within the bacterial cell as a means of survival during periods of nutrient depletion or other adverse environmental conditions.  When external conditions become favorable for growth, the spore coat breaks open and a single vegetative cell emerges, […]

Effect of USP Sample Storage Conditions on Microbial Recovery from Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) Plates Deanna L. Kiska1, Rebecca A. Moran1, and Chris Lee2 1U.S. Micro-Solutions, Inc., Latrobe, PA and 2EpiClear Consulting, Columbus, OH Introduction The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) – National Formulary (NF) has established minimum standards for the control and monitoring of sterile compounding facilities and aseptic processing […]

Legionnaire’s Disease may be a Threat after COVID-19 Restrictions Ease Is Your Building’s Water Safe for Returning Workers? By mid-March, workplaces were shutting down across America as States began issuing “stay at home” orders and all non-essential businesses closed their doors. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis will be with us for some time to come, but all of its […]

Hospitals and USP 797 Requirements Reducing Drug Contamination Risks USP <797>, from the United States Pharmacopeia, is a set of enforceable sterile compounding standards. It applies to compounding pharmacies and facilities involved in the preparation of compounded sterile preparations (CSPs). Within the last 5 years, 3 versions of USP <797> have been publicly available (2008, 2015 revision, 2019 revision).  This […]

USP 797 Environmental Monitoring Microbial Contamination Many health care providers, including hospitals, compounding pharmacies, and long-term care facilities maintain cleanrooms or segregated compounding areas for the sterile compounding of medications (CSPs). A critical concern in any compounding environment is microbial contamination of CSPs, which can cause harm or even death when administered to a patient. United States Pharmacopeia (USP) <797> […]

USP <797>, A Compliance Overview Keeping Patients Safe from Contaminated Drugs Many health care facilities, including hospitals, compounding pharmacies, and long-term care providers prepare medications on-site. These are called CSPs (Compounded Sterile Preparations), and they range from specialized dosages of medicine and nutrients to ointments, creams, and solutions in various formulations. A critical concern in any compounding environment is to […]

What You Need to Know About Legionella and Legionnaires’ Disease What is Legionella? Legionella are bacteria found naturally in surface and drinking water, as well as in soil. There are currently 59 known species of Legionella, with Legionella pneumophila being the most frequent cause of Legionnaires’ Disease. Legionella are Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria, which grow best at temperatures between 20-42oC (68-108oF). This allows them to proliferate in building […]

History of Legionnaires’ Disease An Unwelcome Guest at the United States’ Bicentennial Legionnaires’ disease was first reported in the summer of 1976, a year in which the United States celebrated its bicentennial. Nowhere was the historic celebration more meaningful than in the city of Philadelphia, often called the birthplace of the nation. During that summer, the City of Brotherly Love […]

Legionella Testing, Hot Tubs & Spas Legionnaires’ Disease in Hot Tubs Both public and personal hot tubs are at risk for harboring bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ Disease. In 2018, 15 people were sickened at a New Hampshire hotel from a Legionella outbreak that was traced to the property’s hot tub. This fall, 128 people fell ill after exposure to a […]

Testing for Legionella The Bacterial Cause of Legionnaires’ Disease Legionnaires’ disease was first reported in 1976 after an outbreak among attendees at an American Legion convention. This pneumonia-like lung infection proved deadly and, at the time, its source was unknown. Legionella pneumophila was subsequently discovered as the cause of the outbreak and it was soon understood that this bacterium thrived […]

Legionella Testing in the Hospitality Industry A Massive Problem, Nationwide First recognized in the 1976 outbreak in Philadelphia area hotels, Legionnaires’ disease afflicts 8 to 18 thousand people each year. This number may underestimate the true incidence since cases are likely underdiagnosed.  The bacterium Legionella pneumophila is responsible for the majority of cases of Legionnaires’ disease. It causes a severe […]

Testing Well Water for E. coli Annual Testing is Recommended You may think of well water as old-fashioned, however more than 13 million homes in the U.S. draw their water from private wells, and approximately 800,000 new wells are drilled annually. Pennsylvania ranks second, behind only Michigan, as having the largest number of households with private wells, almost a million. […]

July 14-17, 2019 ASHE (the American Society for Health Care Engineering) hosts an annual conference for health care facility managers, engineering professionals, and others with critical roles in optimizing the physical environment of health care facilities. This year, you can find U.S. Micro Solutions at Booth 2026. It is our first year attending this premier event for health care facility […]

Viable bioaerosol sampling is based upon the principle of sieve impaction in which air is aspirated through the perforated head of a volumetric air sampler. The air stream, which contains viable particles, is directed onto the surface of an agar plate. After sample collection, the agar plate is incubated and the resultant colonies are counted and expressed as colony forming […]

If you have ever submitted a bioaerosol, surface, bulk, or swab sample for fungal culture you have probably seen this terminology in a report and may have wondered why there was no further identification. As a fungus grows on agar media, it typically produces hyphae and spores and these structures are used for identification (Fig. 1). Lab analysts observe the […]

Integration, Diversity, and Fun Through Sports U.S. Micro-Solutions, Inc. is pleased to support Friends to Friends, a Pittsburgh-area non-profit organization focused on increasing awareness and respect between children with and without special needs.  Children and their families interact through sporting events such as bowling, fishing, and baseball.  The organization was founded in 1995 by a local father, George O’Donnell, whose […]

Duodenoscope Surveillance Sampling New Culture Protocol Released On Feb. 26, 2018, the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and other experts released standardized protocols for Duodenoscope Surveillance Sampling & Culturing. These new duodenoscope protocols replace the previous interim protocols released in 2015.  The new procedure has been validated by three manufacturers of duodenoscopes […]

Visit U.S. Micro-Solutions at Booth 5 U.S. Micro-Solutions is pleased to announce our attendance at the Controlled Environment Testing Association’s (CETA) annual meeting in Idaho this year. Dates are April 13 to 18, at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The conference features professional development seminars, technical presentations, and product demos. Networking and social events round out the tradeshow, including the annual […]

Assuring a Sterile Environment Launched in 2008 by the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), General Chapter 797 is, in part, a response to the history of deaths and injuries attributed to contaminated pharmaceuticals. From the deaths of four patients in Nebraska in 1990 to an FDA announced recall by U.S. Compounding, Inc. of sterile compounded products in 2015, a Timeline […]

Deanna Kiska, Ph.D. is the new President of U.S. Micro-Solutions, Inc., an environmental microbiology laboratory founded in 1996 by her father, Herb Layman. Deanna received her doctorate degree in Microbiology from the Medical College of Virginia and completed a fellowship in Clinical Microbiology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She is board certified in Medical Microbiology. She was […]

The Centers for Disease Control have collected data on Legionnaires’ disease from 21 jurisdictions in the United States (20 states and 1 large metropolitan area).  Access full report here. Legionnaires’ disease is widespread in U.S. health care facilities. Definite health care-associated Legionnaires’ disease cases were reported by the majority (76%) of the 21 jurisdictions, including 72 facilities with 1-6 cases […]

More than 20% of Legionnaires’ disease cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control are associated with travel, which includes travel on cruise ships.  Contaminated hot tubs are the most commonly implicated shipboard sources; however, potable water systems have also been linked to transmission. From 1977-2012, there were 84 ship-associated cases of Legionnaires disease with 8 ships experiencing outbreaks of […]