Abstract
Small-plastic-bottled beverages (SPBB) are becoming increasingly popular among the inpatients and most of them directly drinking from a bottle (DFB), bacterial contamination is inevitable and seems to be important especially for the immunocompromised hosts. Answers on the questionnaire from 40 inpatient was shown that 26.7% of the inpatients take SPBB, especially green tea, sports drinks and mineral water are drunk as the most popular, and SPBB are stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator almost at the equal rates. Based on these data, DFB-mediated bacterial contamination of these three SPBB was examined by the storage manners. The bacterial contamination in sports drinks was almost negligible they are stored either. The number of living cells in green tea and mineral water gradually increased with the lapse of time at room temperature. However, if they stored in the refiigerator, these numbers in green tea retarded at the level of 46 colony forming units/ml until 24hours, bacterial growth in the mineral water was observed until 10hours and then decreased under detectable levels. These data suggest that inpatients should pay hygienic consideration to DFB-mediated bacterial contamination in SPBB and should be recommended to store them at least in the refrigerator.
