Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(3): 795-798 795 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.603.092 Microbiological Surveillance of Human Milk from Milk Bank in Tertiary Care Hospital in Jaipur, India Neha Gupta* and Mohit Agarwal Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302022, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction It is universally accepted, that breast milk is the optimum exclusive source of nutrition for infants, and also continues to be the only milk which is suited to every infant around the world. Despite advances in infant formulas, human milk provides bioactive matrix of benefits that cannot be replaced by any other source of nutrition. If mother’s milk is insufficient or unavailable, the next best option is to use pasteurised donor human milk (PDHM). In our country the burden of low birth weight babies in various hospitals is about 20% with significant mortality and morbidities (Das et al., 1993; Bharti, 2011). Feeding such low birth weight babies with breast milk, can significantly reduce the risk of infections. The microbiological quality of expressed milk distributed by these milk bank is a public health issue, for the children who will consume this product, as they have low resistance to neonatal infections (Law et al., 1989; Rosa et al., 1990). The most important issue concerning human milk bank is the bacteriological control of donated milk (Ikonam et al., 1982). Consumption of contaminated milk may be the cause of neonatal diseases (Tyson et al., 1982). The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of micro-organism in expressed milk being offered by human milk bank situated in Mahatama Gandhi medical college & hospital. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 3 (2017) pp. 795-798 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Breast milk is the best source of nutrition as it is composed of all bio active components required for the growth and development of infant. Even after the advances in infant formula mixes, breast milk is universally accepted to be best suited to infants. The objective of this study is to ensure quality of donated breast milk as a safe end product. The study is done to determine the prevalence of potentially pathogenic micro-organism that indicates hygiene and sanitary conditions of human milk collected at milk bank. The study was conducted for a period of 5 months (Jan-May 2016) in dept of microbiology at Mahatma Gandhi hospital, Jaipur. 130 samples of human milk collected at human milk bank were taken for microbiological analysis. Among the total no. of samples collected 75 samples was of raw milk and remaining 55 was pasteurized milk. The latter were plated on blood agar and MacConkey agar. The isolated organisms were confirmed by various biochemical test and reactions. Out of 130 samples, 75 (58%) was raw milk and out of it 61 (81%) showed growth of micro organism and 14 (19%) was sterile. Among remaining 55 (42%) was pasteurized milk which showed growth in 12 (22%) and 43 (78%) were sterile. The study indicates that raw milk received is heavily contaminated. As for pasteurized milk, despite elimination of greater majority of potentially pathogenic organism, few organisms were identified. Keywords Human Milk, Pasteurised donor human milk, Microbiological Survelliance, Accepted: 15 February 2017 Available Online: 10 March 2017 Article Info