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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 […]