waterborne pathogens in the automated endoscope reprocessor( AER) final rinse water.” Put another way, any endoscopic patient has likely been exposed to microbial growth from a dirty scope. Over an 8-year period, over half( 57 percent) of all culture sites from duodenoscopes were contaminated with microorganisms with greater than or equal to 20 colony-forming units( AM20), with annual AM20 contamination rates reaching as high as 95 percent in the final year of the study. Again, it is significantly more likely than not that patients undergoing this procedure have been exposed to significant microorganisms.
Up to 47.5 percent of yearly culture sets were contaminated by microorganisms of oral or gastrointestinal origin. This statistic is one of the more horrifying to many people, as the source of the microorganism is so plainly identified. A report commissioned by FDA presented in 2019 using
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