UCLA hospital planning to test new scope-cleaning machine
Jul 23, 2015, 8:24 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) — University of California, Los Angeles, officials are planning to test a new scope-cleaning machine after a superbug outbreak involving three deaths.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/1GEIa7m ) UCLA’s Ronald Regan Medical Center is scheduled to install the new scope-cleaning machine by Arizona-based Langford IC Systems Inc. on a trial basis as an extra cleaning step on top of standard protocol.
Several U.S. hospitals have experienced antibiotic-resistant superbug outbreaks from tainted duodenoscopes. The scopes are placed down a patient’s throat and used to treat gallstones, blockages and cancers of the digestive track.
UCLA adopted an extra sterilizing measure involving ethylene-oxide gas after an outbreak of scope-related infections from October 2014 to January. But gas sterilization can be expensive and cause potential damage to the scope.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
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