Bronchoscopy-related infections and pseudoinfections--New York, 1996 and 1998.

Bronchoscopy is a useful diagnostic technique that can be performed safely by trained specialists when the bronchoscopes in both inpatient and ambulatory-care settings are reprocessed properly to prevent transmission of infection. The New York State Department of Health received reports of three clusters of culture-positive bronchoscopy specimens obtained in 1996 and 1998 from patients at local health-care facilities. This report summarizes the results of investigations of these clusters, which indicated involvement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. intracellulare, or imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Between patient uses, bronchoscopes had been cleaned, visually inspected, leak tested, and processed by STERIS System 1 processors (STERIS, Mentor, Ohio).