Visual deterioration as presentation of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

Bacteriological quality ofbank breast milk 899 collected into a sterile universal container. Skin antiseptics were not applied to the breasts and no mother was taking antibiotics. The breasts were frequently washed with soap and water. The milk samples were delivered to the laboratory and dealt with immediately. Serial dilutions of milk between 10-1 and 10-4 were made in nutrient agar (Oxoid), using a semiautomated diluter, and after overnight incubation at 370C the bacterial species and number of colony forming units per litre were determined. Student's paired t test was used to measure the significance of differences in colony counts between the two milk samples. Results The Figure shows the bacterial colony counts in the samples of breast milk. There was no significant difference between the colony counts of the paired samples, and in only one instance did the bacterial flora of the second sample differ from that of the first. Discussion West and Hewitt3 showed that 10 ml milk needs to be discarded before the bacteriological quality of the milk improves significantly. Our study shows the futility of discarding the first 2-3 ml while collecting breast milk for banking. We conclude that milk banks whose milk derives mainly from early lac-tating mothers should not discard the first part of the milk collected, as this will appreciably reduce the quantity of the milk without bacteriological advantage