Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Statement of the working group instrument preparation concerning treating instruments for reuse in cases where Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is suspected.
Reusable instruments that have been used on patients with suspected Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease must be subjected to special treatment processes when preparing them for reuse.
The "Working Group Instrument Preparation" is not in a position to assess the effectiveness of the various recommendations made so far. As, however, all these treatment processes have a more or less considerable influence on the retention of the value of reusable instruments, the Working Group recommends establishing a procedure which complies with the following criteria:
- No sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleaching lye) may be used for soak treatment, as irreversible corrosion damage would be done to instruments by such a solution.
- When using caustic soda lye, materials such as aluminium are unsuitable due to their low corrosion resistance and may therefore not be used in such a case.
- A cleaning process including the necessary rinsing must be carried out between immersion treatment and sterilization in order to completely remove the bath residues prior to sterilization. A machine cleaning process is recommended.