Doctor sees virtually no risk of infection transmission: Ochsner Health System says 222 patients with gastrointestinal problems may have been checked with endoscopes that weren’t triple-washed to disinfect them. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph E. Bisordi says doctors are calling these patients to offer free tests, though experts don’t think the devices carried or communicated any infections. Bisordi says the devices all were hand-washed—said to remove 99.9% of all microorganisms—and put into an automatic washer. But he says an audit could not confirm that the washer finished its whole cycle of detergent, then germicide. Endoscopes use fiber optics to transmit images from inside the body. State epidemiologist Dr. Raoult Ratard says he sees virtually no risk that the devices transmitted infections. The patients were among 11,000 checked between June 25, 2010, and March 2, 2011.
EBR library patrons will be able to access e-books: Amazon says its Kindle e-reader will get the ability to load e-books from 11,000 U.S. public libraries later this year. Most U.S. libraries already provide e-books, which work with nearly all e-readers except the Kindle. They’re also accessible on many smartphones and tablets like the iPad. Amazon.com Inc. says it’s working with OverDrive Inc., which runs the e-book systems of public libraries to make the system compatible with the Kindle. OverDrive runs the e-book system for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library System.
