Bacterial Contamination of Ultrasound Probes at a Tertiary Referral University Medical Center

Chu K. et al. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are among the leading causes of death in the United States. Although HAIs may seem irrelevant to radiology, ultrasound examinations may be an unaccounted contributing factor for their development. There are established guidelines for disinfection and sterilization in general, but a lack of compliance and misuse of disinfectants has led to numerous outbreaks. According to the CDC, there are seven factors affecting the efficacy of disinfection which in turn impacts compliance: the number and location of microorganisms, innate resistance of microorganisms, concentration and potency of disinfectants, physical and chemical factors, presence or absence of organic and inorganic soils and the presence or absence of biofilms. Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide^® (AHP^®) is a synergistic blend of commonly used, safe ingredients that has unparalleled germicidal efficacy and has been proven to reduce HAIs.

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