Iowa City Gazette (February 8, 2015)
“Local hospitals report no infections linked to GI scopes.”
NOTABLE QUOTES
Patricia Quinlisk, Iowa state’s epidemiologist:
- About 10 percent of Iowa hospitals surveyed in 2014 reported seeing CRE.
Dr. Theresa Brennan, chief medical officer for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics:
- “Our cleaning strategies exceed the expectations of the (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and the manufacturers.”
(Dr. Muscarella’s question: What are they, so that other hospitals can benefit from these strategies?)
- “(Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, is an) extremely important procedure … The (endo)scopes (used to perform ERCP) open up blockages, do biopsies and collect samples for diagnosis.”
- UIHC does about 2,000 ERCP procedures a year. Without the scopes, patients would have to undergo more invasive surgery, Brennan said.
- “It’s very important this technology remains available,” she said. “The manufacturers and FDA should do whatever possible to make sure it remains available.”
Note: During ERCP, a duodenoscope is inserted down the patient’s throat, through the stomach and into the start of the small intestine. A thin catheter is passed from the end of the endoscope into bile ducts leading to the pancreas and gallbladder.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- “Previous studies have shown an association between ERCP endoscopes and transmission of multidrug-resistant bacteria. The design of the ERCP endoscopes might pose a particular challenge for cleaning and disinfection.”
Lawrence F Muscarella, PhD:
- “Patients should ask whether a hospital has had any infections spread through duodenoscopes before undergoing ERCP.”
- “If it has, consider being treated at another medical center,” Muscarella wrote in an email to The Gazette.
Sarah Corizzo (spokeswomen for UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital):
- “During this visit, particular emphasis was given to the ERCP scopes and proper cleaning of the elevator channel” of the device.”
Posting by: Lawrence F Muscarella, PhD; posted: 2/9/2015, Rev A.