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Volume 25 - October 2004

Contents

Page 1 of 14

Letters to the Editor

Other

Letter to the Editor

Medical News

  • Quality Improvement Program Reduces Nosocomial Infections in the Intensive Care Unit

  • Gina Pugliese, Martin S. Favero
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, p. 524
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Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

  • Chickenpox and Pneumonia Following Varicella Vaccine

  • Ghan-Shyam Lohiya, Lilia Tan-Figueroa, Sherry Marshall
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 530-531
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Letters to the Editor

  • Legionella Pneumonia: Experience in a Community Teaching Hospital

  • Obi Okoye, Manhal Tannous, Raja Shekar, Keyvan Ravakhah
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, p. 1014
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Editorial

  • Prion Inactivation and Medical Instrument Reprocessing: Challenges Facing Healthcare Facilities

  • Lynne M. Sehulster
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 276-279
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Letter to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Editorial

  • Volume 25: An Important Milestone Despite Continuing Infection Control Challenges

  • Barry M. Farr
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 7-9
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  • How're We Doin'? Preventing Occupational Infections With Blood-Borne Pathogens in Healthcare

  • David K. Henderson
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 532-535
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Letters to the Editor

Medical News

  • Risk Factors for Surgical-Site Infections After Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery

  • Gina Pugliese, Martin S. Favero
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, p. 524
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Editorial

  • Gram-Negative, Hospital-Acquired Infections: A Growing Problem

  • Lennox K. Archibald
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 809-811
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Letters to the Editor

Editorials

  • New Insights for Improving Hand Hygiene Practices

  • John M. Boyce
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 187-188
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Original Articles

  • Infectivity of Prion Protein Bound to Stainless Steel Wires: A Model for Testing Decontamination Procedures for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

  • Zheng-xin Yan, Lothar Stitz, Peter Heeg, Eberhard Pfaff, Klaus Roth
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 January 2015, pp. 280-283
  • Objectives:

    To establish an animal model to study transmissible spongiform encephalopathy using hamsters and steel wires contaminated with infectious brain materials as transfer vehicles, and, based on this model, to test decontamination procedures against the infectious prion proteins on the steel wires as a near real situation bioassay.

    Design:

    Infectious brain materials were given to healthy hamsters intracerebrally either as a suspension or as dried materials on the surface of steel wires. The animals were observed for 18 months. During this period, animals showing definitive clinical signs were euthanized. Decontamination studies were performed by reprocessing contaminated steel wires with different disinfection agents and procedures before implantation.

    Results:

    Pathological prion proteins were able to bind to the steel wires and caused disease after the contaminated wires were implanted in the brains of hamsters. When the contaminated wires were treated with different reprocessing procedures before implantation, infectivity was reduced, which was manifested directly by prolonged survival time of the test animals. These results show that this model can be used as a bioassay to validate reprocessing procedures for surgical instruments.

    Conclusions:

    At the time of submission of this article, only the group of hamsters incubated with wires reprocessed with an alkaline detergent, followed by sterilization with a modified cycle in a hydrogen peroxide gas plasma sterilizer (4 injections), showed no clinical signs of disease and remained alive. Two animals from the group receiving sodium hydroxide followed by autoclaving (at 134° C for 18 minutes) died. Furthermore, the tested enzymatic cleaning agent seemed to have no positive effect.

Page 1 of 14