Suburban Hospital Linked to Largest Outbreak of Potentially Deadly Bacteria

The largest outbreak of a potentially deadly bacteria has been linked to an endoscopic procedure performed at Advocate Lutheran Hospital in Park Ridge on patients between January and September 2013, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. 

There have been 38 confirmed cases of infection from a bacteria called carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, from patients treated at Advocate Lutheran Hopsital, according to the  Chicago Sun-Times. 

The bacteria typically is found in the digestive system and most often can cause urinary tract infections, according to UPI.com. UPI.com reports that if the infection is not quickly identified and enters the bloodstream, the patient has a 40 to 50 percent chance of dying. 
There have been no reports whether any of the cases has resulted in a death, according to UPI.com. 

Crain's Chicago Business reports Advocate Lutheran has adopted stricter sterilization procedures and moved to gas sterilization for the particular scopes, which exceeds the manufacturer's recommendations, since the outbreak. 

The Illinois Department of Public Health and Center for Disease Control did not find anything faulty in the hospital's sterilization process and a recent report  from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly noted the endoscopes may " pose a particular challenge for cleaning and disinfection," according to Crain's. 

Read more on the Chicago Sun-Times and Crain's Chicago Business Journal.