Abstract
Objective: Compare the risk of bacterial contamination of allergy immunotherapy vials prepared in-office versus those mixed under a ventilation hood. Study Design: Prospective single-blinded study. Setting: Tertiary otolaryngology outpatient clinic. Results: Five hundred thirty-seven vials were prepared and cultured for aerobes and anaerobes over an 11-month period. Three hundred twenty vials were arbitrarily assigned to in-office preparation and 217 to under-hood preparation. A total of two positive cultures occurred in vials prepared in-office and one from under-hood preparation. Follow-up cultures of these three vials were all negative. No patients receiving injections had signs or symptoms of skin or systemic infections from the injections. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the risk of bacterial contamination in immunotherapy vials in both groups is rare.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 364-366 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery |
Volume | 139 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2008 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Otorhinolaryngology