Microbial contamination of domiciliary nebuliser therapy equipment

Fifty-two outpatients requiring domiciliary nebulised bronchodilator therapy were studied to determine the frequency and degree of contamination of nebuliser solutions and equipment. In 32 of the 52 patients (61%) nebuliser solutions and/or aerosols were contaminated. The degree of contamination was greater than that of ambient air in 90% of the contaminated aerosols. Diluent solutions were more frequently contaminated than salbutamol solutions (51% vs. 9%) and the organisms isolated from the solutions frequently correlated with those in aerosols. Gram-negative bacilli, particularly Pseudomonas species, were the most frequently isolated organisms.