• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MassDevice

The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice

  • Latest News
    • Cardiovascular
    • Orthopedics
  • Wall Street Beat
    • Funding Roundup
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Podcasts
    • MPR: Breakthrough Products Series
  • Resources
    • About MassDevice
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Job Board
    • Leadership in Medtech
    • Manufacturer Search
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Videos
    • Whitepapers
  • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • DeviceTalks
  • Coronavirus: Live updates
Home » Diabetes device-related infections a growing concern, CDC says

Diabetes device-related infections a growing concern, CDC says

September 2, 2011 By MassDevice staff

Fingerstick procedure

The number of patients exposed to blood-borne infections during diabetes testing, glucose monitoring and insulin delivery in group settings is on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Misused equipment and improperly trained staff have forced thousands to undergo blood testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C over the past decade, but an aging population and increasing rate of diabetes has the CDC concerned about an uptick in potential outbreaks.

Bad hospital practices were blamed in the most recent patient advisory, when more than 2,300 patients were potentially exposed to infectious disease at a Wisconsin hospital where a fingerstick blood glucose sampling pen wasn’t properly cleaned between uses.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has become increasingly concerned about the risks for transmitting hepatitis B virus (HBV) and other infectious diseases during assisted blood glucose (blood sugar) monitoring and insulin administration," the CDC reported. "Reports of HBV (hepatitis B) infection outbreaks linked to diabetes care have been increasing."

The problem is of particular concern in long-term care facilities where patients often need help testing their glucose levels and injecting insulin.

"In the last 10 years, alone, there have been at least 15 outbreaks of HBV infection associated with providers failing to follow basic principles of infection control when assisting with blood glucose monitoring," according to the CDC’s site. "Due to under-reporting and under recognition of acute infection, the number of outbreaks due to unsafe diabetes care practices identified to date are likely an underestimate."

In 2010 dozens of health fair attendees in New Mexico were put at risk when a fingerstick device was reused. In 2009 more than 2,000 people were urged to undergo testing after individual insulin pens were used for multiple patients.

In the Wisconsin outbreak, patients were potentially exposed to HIV and other diseases over the course of five years when a nurse, who was a certified diabetic educator and who left her job two weeks ago, used a fingerstick pen on multiple patients. Her job was to train newly diagnosed diabetics on proper glucose monitoring and insulin injection, the Associated Press reported.

A hospital whistleblower reported the nurse for using a fingerstick pen meant for demonstration on inanimate objects on patients. She used a clean needle each time, but blood can backflow into the pen’s reservoir and contaminate the next person pricked by the pen.

No incidence of actual disease exposure were found as of Monday, according to the news wire.

"This is what we call infection control 101," CDC epidemiologist Joe Perz told the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. "One of the most common myths is that contamination is limited to the needle. An insulin cartridge is a form of syringe. And a syringe and needle should be seen as a single device. One can contaminate the other."

Filed Under: Food & Drug Administration (FDA), News Well Tagged With: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Diseases, Insulin Management

In case you missed it

  • Obalon Therapeutics’ stock skyrockets after announcing ReShape Lifesciences merger
  • EmblemHealth to provide coverage for Senseonics’ Eversense CGM
  • Abbott’s MitraClip receives boost as CMS expands coverage for TMVR
  • Haemonetics to acquire Cardiva
  • DePuy Synthes lands FDA clearance for Velys robotic knee system
  • New COVID-19 variants could diminish vaccine efficacy
  • DJO acquires Trilliant Surgical and its foot and ankle implants
  • GE Healthcare reportedly lays off 140 in Wisconsin
  • Learn What Quality Trends to Watch for in 2021
  • HHS could make permanent pandemic-related exemptions for some devices
  • Medtechs can’t set digital strategies aside – DTW Podcast
  • NIH increases PhysIQ contract to $6.6M
  • Senseonics announces $50M from stock offering
  • Protolabs to acquire 3D Hubs for up to $330M
  • TransEnterix receives CE Mark for AI for its robotic surgery system
  • Hillrom to buy Bardy Diagnostics for $375M
  • Philips aquires Capsule Technologies and its medical device data tech

RSS From Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • XL Precision Technologies plans UK, U.S. expansions
    XL Precision Technologies (XL-PT) has announced a major capital investment to expand facilities in the first quarter of 2021. At the primary manufacturing site in Stockton-on-Tees (UK), XL-PT has signed the lease to the adjacent building, which will add 17,400 ft2 of floor space to the existing capacity. Occupancy is expected within three months. XL-PT… […]
  • Researchers tout biomaterials that can be ‘fine-tuned’ for medtech
    Researchers in the UK and U.S. are touting a new thermoplastic biomaterial capable of “fine-tuning” for use in soft tissue repair or bioelectronics. According to a news release, the material, which is a type of polyester, has been developed by a team at the University of Birmingham (UK) and Duke University (U.S.) for use in… […]
  • HHS could make permanent pandemic-related exemptions for some devices
    HHS has used the Trump administration’s waning days to propose permanently exempting certain medical devices — including infusion pump controllers and fetal monitors — from the FDA 510(k) clearance process. In a notice published Jan. 15, 2021, in the Federal Register, the agency also listed seven types of patient examination gloves that it has decided… […]
  • Medtechs can’t set digital strategies aside – DTW Podcast
    Digital connectivity no longer belongs in the final slides of a medtech company’s pitch deck. In the latest DeviceTalks Weekly podcast, three leaders pushing for connected medical devices explain the need to incorporate data collection and monitoring functionality in new devices: Scott Huennekens, who advanced the “digital surgery” strategy when he helped launch Verb Surgical,… […]
  • Protolabs to acquire 3D Hubs for up to $330M
    Protolabs (NYSE: PRLB) today announced it plans to acquire Amsterdam-based 3D Hubs, an online manufacturing platform that provides engineers with on-demand access to a global network of approximately 240 manufacturing partners. The transaction creates a comprehensive digital manufacturing offer for custom parts, expanding Protolabs’ breadth of capabilities as well as adding a broader offering of pricing and… […]
  • These medtech stocks performed the best in 2020
    While 2020 did not go as planned for anyone, with the twists and turns came opportunities for medtech companies to power forward. Innovations came both as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and perhaps in spite of the challenges brought on by the virus, highlighted by the increased efforts to produce vaccines and testing while… […]
  • Covestro tests plastics against high-strength hospital disinfectants
    Covestro announced that it recently teamed with disinfectant manufacturer Metrex to test five different Covestro polycarbonate materials against three of Metrex’s products, which are widely used throughout the healthcare industry. As is customary for rapidly assessing the compatibility of plastics to disinfectants, test specimens were pre-strained and underwent several wipe-and-dry cycles with Metrex disinfectants to… […]
  • Integer expands N.Y. battery plant
    Integer announced today that it recently broke ground on an expansion of its Alden, N.Y., facility to accommodate new equipment that will substantially increase the plant’s production capacity for rechargeable Xcellion lithium-ion batteries. The project kicked off in mid-December 2020 and will add both production equipment and a build-out of Integer’s existing facility. The company… […]
  • Diversified Plastics adds high-efficiency vertical presses
    Diversified Plastics (DPI) announced that it recently installed six all-electric vertical injection molding presses. These presses will join DPI’s existing assemblage of vertical presses and provide increased production capacity to meet growing demand from medical device and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). DPI uses vertical presses for over-molding and insert-molding, capabilities often required for medical… […]
  • Traco Power expands power supply line for portable medical equipment
    Traco Power announced that it has expanded its TPP 450 high-density 3×5 power supply series. The series now offers Protection Class II models (TPP 450BA-M Open-Frame Models and TPP 450B-M Enclosed with Fan Models), designed for non-stationary requirements where connection to ground is not possible. Key approvals on the original series remain on the expanded… […]
  • Reflow Medical launches low-profile reinforced support catheters
    Reflow Medical today announced it has launched its Reflow Spex Low Profile reinforced support catheters. The Spex LP catheters are designed to provide the lowest profile tip to access and cross the tightest and most complex lesions with a supportive system. They come in 0.014 in. and 0.018 in. sizes and can be combined with… […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Need Medtech news in a minute?
We Deliver!

MassDevice Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need in med tech. Sign up today.

Tweets by @MassDevice
MDO ad

Footer

MASSDEVICE MEDICAL NETWORK

DeviceTalks
Drug Delivery Business News
Medical Design & Outsourcing
Medical Tubing + Extrusion

MASSDEVICE

Subscribe to MassDevice
Advertise with us
About
Contact us

Add us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Connect with us on LinkedIn Follow us on YouTube

Copyright © 2021 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Advertise | Privacy Policy | RSS