Monitoring the microbiological quality of dialysate and treated water

During hemodialysis and related therapies,removal of waste products from the blood is made possible across a semi-permeable membrane. The microbiological quality of treated water (TW) and dialysate influences a number of dialysis-related complications. This article is a review of the microbiological features of TW and dialysate fluid over a six-year period (February 2007 to December 2012) in the Dialysis Unit,1 st Medico-Surgical Hospital,Agadir,Morocco. Installation of a water treatment unit has been followed by a protocol to check its quality periodically. Results of microbiological monitoring (microorganisms and endotoxins) were collected over a six-year period. Fifty-four samples of TW and 12 samples of dialysate fluid were analyzed for colony forming units (CFU) and endotoxin during this period. All dialysate samples were negative,while in the TW,9.2% of the samples yielded 100/mL CFU and 16.7% yielded 0.06 EU/mL of endotoxins. These abnormal results happened especially during the first two first years. More frequent disinfection of the distribution loop was the corrective measure. To obtain high-quality water for hemodialysis,the appropriate system must be continuously monitored in order to get high microbiological quality of TW and dialysate fluid.