The Identification of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Contamination in Ultrasound Endoscopes and Reproduction of Decontamination Failure by Deliberate Soiling Tests.

Background: An outbreak of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was observed in the cultures of bronchial aspirations. After systematic culturing of the scopes and reprocessing the equipment, it turned out to be a pseudo-outbreak caused by a failure of the disinfector to sterilize ultrasound scopes, subsequently resulting in cross infection of the bronchoscopes via the connecting tubes in the dryer.

Objectives: To support the above-mentioned findings and to show how different variables influence the decontamination process.