There is a growing body of evidence that suggests infection rates related to scopes are severely underestimated, and a recent USA TODAY report outlines three potential reasons why that is.
According to the report, many scope-associated infections aren't catalogued because:
1. Hospitals and health departments can't make a definitive link to the devices;
2. Many infections never get detected, or are mistaken for more routine infections; and
3. Hospitals and health departments aren't necessarily required to alert federal authorities even when infections are confirmed as being scope-related.
Sign up for our FREE E-Weekly for more coverage like this sent to your inbox!
"The number of transmissions is basically unknowable," Alex Kallen, MD, a medical epidemiologist and outbreak response coordinator in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the CDC, told USA TODAY. "There is clearly a detection problem in identifying [duodenoscope-related] infection clusters."
Dr. Kallen went on to explain that the CDC relies on healthcare organizations to report infection outbreaks on their own.
To read the full report on unreported scope-related infections, click here.
More articles on scope-related infections:
Scope-related infection estimates inaccurate and outdated, researchers say
Endoscopes and MDROs: How to avoid an outbreak
Senator calls for release of records from scope manufacturers linked to superbug infections