Burkholderia cepacia is the name for a group or “complex” of bacteria that can be found in soil and water. B. cepacia bacteria are often resistant to common antibiotics. In recent years there has been a series of product recalls involving Burkholderia cepaciacomplex (BCC).
To address these concerns, pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturers establish procedures (e.g., sanitary design, equipment cleaning, environmental monitoring) to prevent contamination of non-sterile drug products.
This topic has been covered in a new book chapter, written by Tim Sandle. An abbreviated abstract is:
This chapter discusses the general characteristics of the BCC group. This is followed by a review of the potential points of origin in pharmaceutical environmet6s, which are generally low-nutrient environments like water. This is followed by a review of the potential risks to patients that the organism presents. Such risks are contextualized in relation to patient population and product type.
The reference is:
Sandle, T. (2018): Burkholderia cepaciacomplex: Characteristics, products risks and testing requirements. In Reber, D. and Griffin, M. (Eds.) Microbial Control and Identification, DHI/PDA books, River Grove, USA, pp197-230. ISBN Number: 9781942911272
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology
