clarkgriswold

Approximately 100 patients at UCLA hospital have been exposed to a superbug...7 tested positive so far, 2 are dead. All from a nasty germ on an endoscopy tube. The hospital states that the tubes are notoriously difficult to properly clean. Ahem.

nytraveler

Well, if they can't really be cleaned it would seem that you have to use a new one for each patient.

And do other hospitals agree that this tube is very difficult to clean properly?

100 patients ( and if getting an endoscopy likely older with other health problems) sick with a superbug is a disaster in the making. Now we don't have to worry about ebola any more.

Dukey1

They may be difficult to clean internally but they are not IMPOSSIBLE to clean internally given the CORRECT methods.

Scopes have been an Infection Control challenge for decades and given the fact that they only require high level disinfection except for any biopsy parts which require sterility, many have been tempted to take various shortcuts.

Scope-related outbreaks are nothing new, unfortunately, and is another reason this one should never have occurred. Time to get out the checkbook if those death cases "go to trial."

clarkgriswold

Well they're sending a "test kit" to anyone who had the procedure at UCLA between October and January.

Sending it by U.S. Mail. Wouldn't that be nice to receive? (If it ever arrives).


ps Sorry, asked this be moved to the lounge where I meant to post it but hasn't happened

Dukey1

I somehow suspect that anybody having had one IN OCTOBER would probably have exhibited some sort of ill effects by now.

nytraveler

I never cease to be amazed by the issues there are in hospitals - it sometimes seems that staff members are on another planet.

My mom was in the hospital for some minor surgery and the pharmacy sent up the meds for the previous patient in that bed - who had been released that am. And the nurse tried to make her take them. She kept saying - no I'm NOT Mrs X and these are not my drugs. The nurse wouldn't listen and call the PA to try to force her to take them. Meanwhile she called me and I got to the nursing station - where I finally found someone who admitted the mistake (and that she had NOT been given her own meds). I called her MD and the geriatric fellow - and between them they straightened it out. But the nurses - instead of being happy we had prevented a potentially fatal problem - were rude to me and ignored her the rest of her stay. We ended up getting her a private duty nurse (for which the hospital paid) so she got proper care.

nanabee

what does this have to do with travel, haven't seen you for awhile in the L.

clarkgriswold

UCLA states that they are now disinfecting the instruments using a process that "goes even further than what the manufacturer recommends". Yeah, good idea. Might want to pass the info along to other hospitals as well, and to the manufacturer.

179 is now their count of possibly-infected patients.

Dukey1

There is usually no reason to exceed any manufacturer's re3commendations. This is simply c ode speak for, "We did not follow the accepted recommendations for cleaning and processing and we also didn't monitor the agents use for effectiveness."

If they had DONE that and decontaminated/disinfected those instruments in the acceptable manner there would be no need to "exceed" anything.

I can assure you the legal department is in on this one and they are scrambling to cover their butts.

clarkgriswold

They said they are now using steam cleaning which kills all bacteria. Why is steam cleaning not "the standard"? Probably cost.