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Can Whipple's Disease Be Transmitted by Gastroscopes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Bernard La Scola ,
Jean-Marc Rolain ,
Max Maurin  and
Didier Raoult
Bernard La Scola
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
Jean-Marc Rolain
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
Max Maurin
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
Didier Raoult*
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
*
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
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Abstract

Objective:

To determine whether disinfection protocols currently used for gastroscopes are effective against cultures of Tropheryma whipplei.

Design:

The bactericidal activity of 2% glutaraldehyde and two peracetic acids on the Twist-Marseille strain of T. whipplei grown in cell monolayers was determined.

Patients:

Two patients who were diagnosed as having Whipple's disease 3 years after they had had intestinal biopsies.

Results:

The disinfectants reduced bacteria by approximately 2 log10 to 3 log10 after 5 to 60 minutes of contact.

Conclusion:

The bactericidal activity of a disinfectant is usually considered significant if it causes a 5 log10 or greater reduction in viable bacterial titers. Disinfecting gastroscopes with 2% glutaraldehyde or peracetic acids for 20 minutes may be insufficient to prevent transmission of T. whipplei on the instruments or stop false-positive results on polymerase chain reaction.

Type
Orginal Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , March 2003 , pp. 191 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2003

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