Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics (1990) 15,365-369. MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION AND PRESERVATION EFFICACY OF COUGH PREPARATIONS T. E. Na'was,"? M. Sheikh Salemf and H. N. Alkaysif *Faculty of Medicine and :Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan SUMMARY Cough syrups, manufactured by four different Jordanian pharmaceutical companies, were examined for microbial contents and efficacy of preser- vation from fungal and bacterial contamination. Five per cent of the tested samples were found to be contaminated by Candida albicans and 30% of the products examined did not comply with the pharmacopoeia1 requirements for optimal preservation from fungal contamination. All the products tested were free from bacteria and were efficiently preserved against accidental bacterial contamination. INTRODUCTION Microbial contamination of pharmaceutical preparations is a common problem which has been reported for several non-sterile medicaments (1-5). Cough syrups are widely consumed non-sterile preparations, which are susceptible to contamination that is attributable to manufacturing processes or misuse by the consumer (5). Contamination with pathogens or opportunistic pathogens might impose a health hazard to the consumer (6,7). In addition, micro-organisms could induce physical and chemical changes due to spoilage of the pharmaceutical products (8). Therefore, pharmaceutical preparations should be protected from microbial contamination by using appropriate preservatives. In recognition of these facts, the official compendia have developed limits and tests for different aspects of microbial contamination and preservative efficacy (9,lO). In this report, cough preparations manufactured by four different Jordanian companies were screened for possible microbial contamination. They were also sub- jected to challenge tests using Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as a strain of C . albicans isolated from a contaminated batch of cough syrup preparation to test the efficacy of the preservatives used in their preparation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Samples Ten brands of sealed cough syrups manufactured by four different pharmaceutical companies were tested. Two batches were chosen for each brand and three bottles of ?To whom correspondence should be addressed. 365