A new study suggests that healthcare facilities and manufacturers are still struggling to clean medical scopes, according to an article on the Los Angeles Times website.
Researchers found that 71 percent of reusable medical scopes tested positive for bacteria after cleaning
"These results are pretty scary," Janet Haas, president of the Assn. for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, said in the article. "These are very complicated pieces of equipment, and even when hospitals do everything right we still have a risk associated with these devices. None of us have the answer right now."
The bacteria the study found weren't superbugs, but researchers said there were potential pathogens that would put patients at high risk of infection. The study didn't track whether the patients became sick from possible exposure.
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