The following summarizes a recent article in The Houston Chronicle, dated August 10, 2015, entitled, “Federal probe: Low risk of ‘superbug’ infections at VA facilities – Houston Chronicle.”
— According to The Houston Chronicle, a July 2015 report by the Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges that duodenoscopes used at U.S. Veterans Affairs medical centers may have transmitted potentially deadly “superbug” infections.
Click here to read the VA’s report, which nonetheless argues that the risk of infection associated with these complex types of endoscopes is “very low.”
— Also according to this Houston Chronicle article, nearly 100 patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, using a duodenoscope at nearly 40 VA centers between 2010 and 2015 tested “positive” for multidrug-resistant infections known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE.
Testing “positive” means that the patient was either infected or colonized with the CRE superbug.
— According to its report, the VA analyzed more than 40,000 patient records, finding no widespread evidence of outbreaks of CRE within the VA medical system.
This report is the VA’s first acknowledgment that superbug infections tied to duodenoscopes may have occurred within the VA medical system.
Previously, VA officials in Washington, D.C., said that they didn’t know whether any infections from CRE due to a contaminated duodenoscope had occurred at federal centers.
To date, no potentially infected patients who underwent ERCP within the VA medical system have been informed of the increased risk of deadly superbug infections.
Quality Reviews for Hospitals, Manufacturers, Patients: Click here to read about how Dr. Muscarella’s can help you reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections, including “superbug” outbreaks linked to contaminated gastrointestinal endoscopes and other reusable medical equipment.
— “The VA’s statement raises questions about what the VA knew and when they knew it,” said Lawrence F. Muscarella, a Philadelphia expert on contaminated duodenoscopes.
Muscarella noted that the VA report is more evidence that there could be more potentially deadly infections tied to the devices than suspected.
Posted: August 14, 2015, Rev A.