A federal investigation has found the superbug infections linked to contaminated medical scopes at numerous civilian hospitals may have also occurred at U.S. Veterans Affairs medical centers, according to The Seattle Times.
Roughly 100 patients treated with the scopes at nearly 40 VA centers between 2010 and 2015 tested positive for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Officials say they can't rule out the possibility that the devices may have been a factor in at least a dozen of those cases, though the likelihood is very low.
Additionally, VA officials conducted an analysis of more than 40,000 patient records and reported they found no widespread evidence of a problem, concluding that "any transmission appears highly unlikely," according to the report.
The investigation results were released in response to a public-records request by The Seattle Times.
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