A study of the microbial quality and organoleptic properties of ophthalmic preparations obtained from traditional medical practitioners in South Western Nigeria.

Twenty eight samples of traditional ophthalmic preparations were obtained from various traditional medical practitioners in the South Western states of Nigeria over a one-year period. They were examined for sterility, clarity, presence of particulate contamination and pH. All of them were found to be contaminated with bacteria to the order of 2.00 x 10(6) to 1.60 x 10(11) colony forming units/ml, with Pseudomonas species and other potential pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolita, Micrococcus varians and others being isolated from these preparations. A rotifer Rotaria rotatoria, at the adult stage, was also isolated from one sample, this being an indication of gross faecal contamination. All the samples were also found to contain significant particulate contamination and pH values encountered varied over the range of 2.5-9.2. None of the samples was found to comply with official specifications and all of them may therefore be regarded as being potentially dangerous to the users.