X-ray machines 'could be helping to spread infection'

X-ray machines could be helping to spread infection in intensive care units, a new study has found.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5978059/X-ray-machines-could-be-helping-to-spread-infection.html

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Published: 7:00AM BST 06 Aug 2009

Researchers found that one in three x-ray machines that they tested carried bacteria which could cause infections Photo: GETTY
Researchers found that one in three of the machines that they tested carried bacteria which could cause infections.
They warn that better cleaning of the equipment could reduce the chance of spreading potentially dangerous infections within hospitals.


X-ray photographs
Official figures show that there were more than 20 million x-rays taken in British hospitals over the last year.
The scans are used to diagnose and help treat a wide range of illnesses and conditions.
But researchers in Israel warn that the machines themselves could be helping to increase the number of hospital-acquired infections.
They found that 130 of the 406 machines that they tested contained forms of bacteria called drug resistant gram-negative bacteria.
Last year the Health Protection Agency warned that there was an urgent need for new antibiotics to deal with gram-negative bacteria, a group which includes E.coli, which had become resistant to medication.
The findings of the study are published in CHEST, the journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.