At least seven patients treated at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center between October to January have been infected by the drug-resistant superbug CRE, and two deaths have been linked to the outbreak.
Nearly 180 were potentially exposed, the Los Angeles Times reports, and the number could go up as more people are tested. UCLA said it discovered the outbreak in late January, and started notifying patients this week. The superbug can stay on a specialized endoscope that that is used to treat cancers and digestive system issues and is hard to disinfect due to its design. In a statement, UCLA said that it had been cleaning the scopes "according to standards stipulated by the manufacturer," but once it found out about the infections began to disinfect them "above and beyond" regulations and removed the two scopes involved with the infections.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 12, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - drinking games, tiny hands, and more
-
5 invigoratingly funny cartoons about healing the economyCartoons Artists take on surgical precision, going under the knife, and more
-
Adjapsandali: Georgian-style ratatouille recipeThe Week Recommends Twist on the authentic recipe offers bursts of garlic and spices
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
What does Health and Human Services do?The Explainer Cuts will 'dramatically alter' public health in America
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study findsSpeed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Tuberculosis sees a resurgence and is only going to get worseUnder the radar The spread of the deadly infection is buoyed by global unrest
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
MAHA moms: the cohort of women backing RFK Jr.'s health agendaThe Explainer America's head health honcho has a flock of supporters spreading the MAHA message on social media
-
The banned pesticide poisoning Caribbean paradiseUnder the radar Martinique and Guadeloupe have been rocked by soaring cancer rates amid other diagnoses
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreadsSpeed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
