Endoscopes linked to outbreak of drug-resistant E. coli

(Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) An outbreak of a novel Escherichia coli (E.coli) strain resistant to antibiotics has been linked to contaminated endoscopes in a Washington state hospital. The study indicates that industry standard cleaning guidelines, which were exceeded by hospital staff, may not be sufficient for sterilizing endoscopes adequately. The research was published online in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiol...