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Infection Control Measures for Human Donor Breast Milk

Purpose: To make sure that donor milk from a human milk bank will not cause an infection in an infant.

Description

Although the risk of transmitting an infection by breast milk is relatively low, it must be treated as a potentially infectious body substance. A number of steps are taken to minimize the risk of infection associated with donated breast milk distributed through a human milk bank.


 

Areas of control:

(1) donor selection

(2) product preparation

(3) product distribution and handling

 

A donor mother must be:

(1) HIV negative

(2) hepatitis B virus negative

(3) hepatitis C virus negative

(4) negative for human T-cell leukemia virus

(5) screened by medical interview for other infectious diseases

 

A pool is made from several donor mothers. This is cultured, then pasteurized (62.5°C for 30 minutes), then recultured. The pool is discarded if:

(1) the initial culture is positive for any bacterial pathogen

(2) the initial culture is positive for more than 10,000 colony forming units (CFU) of skin flora

(3) the post-pasteurization culture is positive for any bacteria

 

The milk is kept frozen:

(1) after it is expressed from the mother

(2) after it is pasteurized, until it is ready for use

 

The donor milk should be handled according to guidelines that reduce the growth of bacteria. It should be discarded if it is exposed to unacceptable conditions.

 


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Specialty

Objective

ICD-10