Bacterial Contamination in Stored Blood for Transfusion and Associated Infectious Risks Among Patients with Cancer at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, in Uganda.

Background: Patients with cancer often require supportive transfusion therapy. However, this approach is undermined by the risk of bacterial contamination. This study assessed the bacterial contamination rate, identified the bacterial contaminants and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns; and the associated infectious risk to patients with cancer at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, in southwestern Uganda. Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study used a pre-transfusion aliquot of donor blood or components for blood culture. Positive cultures were identified and their antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the bioMerieux VITEK 2 compact system. Recipients were assessed for bacterial infection at 48 hours post-transfusion. Data were analyzed using R software and presented as proportions. Results: We evaluated 376 blood units, with 275 (73.1%) of these being red cell concentrates (RCC). The median storage times for RCC and whole blood (WB) were 23 days (IQR, 18-29 days) and 3 days (IQR, 1-5 days) for platelets (PLT), respectively. Four units (3RCC, 1PLT) had bacterial growth, yielding a contamination rate of 1.1% (95% confidence interval, 0.4-1.8%). Conclusion: The study found a low bacterial contamination rate of stored blood components underscoring the importance of stringent blood collection precautionary measures. The four bacterial isolates were resistant to common antibiotics, which poses a risk of transmission of antibiotic-resistant strains to immunocompromised recipients with cancer. Notably, there was no infectious risk posed post-transfusion presumably due to the concurrent antibiotic therapy.