[monochrome]

Superbug spread through contaminated [endo]scopes sickens dozens of people.

"In the Seattle case, public health officials said the germs apparently spread from patient to patient by endoscopes used to treat liver and pancreatic illnesses. Duchin said the scopes are typically used for thousands of procedures each year in U.S. hospitals.

The scopes at Virginia Mason Medical Center were sterilized to existing standards before each use, public health officials and the hospital said.

"This is a national problem," Virginia Mason Medical Center said in a statement. "We determined that the endoscope manufacturer's, as well as the federal government's, recommended guidelines for processing the scopes are inadequate." Duchin said it took investigators months to pinpoint the contamination, and the hospital has since instituted a rigorous decontamination process that exceeds national standards.

There are three major manufacturers of the scopes, called duodenoscopes: Olympus Corp, Fujifilm and Pentax. Their disinfection recommendations were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

[bimjo]

Interesting. I had necrotizing pancreatitus in 2009 that was treated @ Virginia Mason. I ended up getting a blood infection while in hospital. Makes one wonder...

[cardinal43]

That's not good news. I recently had a endoscopy & colonoscopy and both scopes were Pentax. Good thing I live on the east coast.

[reeftool]

I'm getting an endoscopy done in the spring. I'm glad they discovered this now. My previous scopes were done with Olympus equipment and I'm assuming the hospital is still using them.

[Rupert]

I went for a colonoscopy last year but when I saw a backhoe parked just outside the exam room I left and never went back.

Regards!

[luftfluss]

The sterilization procedure for the Olympus endoscope was buried so deeply in the menu that nobody could figure out how to do it.

The Fuji X-Endoscopes had such good noise reduction that people thought they were always "clean".

The sterilization procedure for the Pentax endoscopes was well thought-out and intuitive, but nobody took it seriously because Pentax only produces crop-endoscopes.

[Rupert]

Do Pentax endoscopes even work on FFigured subjects?

[luftfluss]

Do Pentax endoscopes even work on FFigured subjects?

Yes, because Pentax endoscopes are backside compatible.

[Kunzite]

You guys crack me up.

[gaweidert]

As someone who once suffered thought a c-diff infection I find no humor here. For those of you who have done the prep for a colonoscopy, think of a two week long prep period. I would not wish that experience on anyone.

[Rupert]

I would not wish that experience on anyone.

None of us would! ...but, being the jokers we are, we find humor in most everything.....it helps us get through the downs of life, and there are plenty of downs to go around.

Regards!

"A proctologist walked into a bank. Preparing to endorse a check, he pulled a rectal thermometer out of his shirt pocket and tried to write with it. Realizing his mistake, he looked at the thermometer with annoyance and said, "Well that's great, just great! Some a-hole got my pen!"

source: Proctologist Jokes | Funny Humor by Joke Buddha