Discussions in Infection Control

An independent site by Lawrence F Muscarella PhD -- a national authority on the causes and prevention of healthcare-associated infections and related errors.

Category: High-Level Disinfection

Colonoscopes Disposable Irrigation Tubing Flexible "ENT" Laryngoscopes Hepatitis (B and C) Viruses High-Level Disinfection Instrument Reprocessing MAJ-855 Water Tube San Juan Weekly Semicritical Devices Sheaths Transvaginal Ultrasound Probes Veterans Health Administration

Potentially Faulty Assessment by the Veterans Health Administration of the Risk of Infection Associated with a Number of Confirmed Breaches

January 10, 2013 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD

This article by Lawrence F Muscarella, PhD, discusses the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) assessment in 2009 that the risk of healthcare-acquired infections associated with several instrument-reprocessing breaches recently identified within…

Auxiliary Water Channel Bronchoscopes Colonoscopes Disease Transmission Disinfection Gastrointestinal Endoscopy GI Endoscopes Healthcare-Acquired Infections Hepatitis (B and C) Viruses High-Level Disinfection HIV Infection Prevention Instrument Reprocessing Los Angeles Times MAJ-855 Water Tube Pseudomonas aeruginosa Semicritical Devices

Risk of Disease Transmission Associated with Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

January 3, 2013 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD

January 3, 2013 (updated July 28, 2013, revised April 24, 2014) — This article responds to an article published in The Los Angeles Times. Although this Times’ article was published…

Biofilms Bronchoscopes Case Study Colonoscopes Disease Transmission Disinfection Endoscope Sampling Gastrointestinal Endoscopy GI Endoscopes High-Level Disinfection Infection Prevention Instrument Reprocessing Outbreak Investigations Semicritical Devices

Case Study: A “Dirty” Gastrointestinal Endoscope

January 2, 2013 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD

January 2, 2013 — This article presents a case study, for the purpose of education, that details events at a fictional facility known as “Hospital X.” Breaches in reprocessing protocols…

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May 13, 2025 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD
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Endoscopy Patients at Vanderbilt Potentially Exposed to HIV and Hepatitis, County Officials Have Confirmed

November 26, 2024 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD
Bronchoscopes Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Endoscope Reprocessing Gastroscopes Infection Prevention Rebuttals TPT Medicare Payment Status

Dr. Muscarella’s Recent Recommendations to Medicare to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections

September 16, 2024 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD