Needleless iv connectors are not protected from skin contact or other objects.A study in a us hospital found that 23% of iv-line connectors were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, despite strict infection control guidelines that included the use of alcohol lined caps (hankins r, majorant od et al.Microbial colonization of intra vascular catheter connectors in hospitalized patients.Am j infection control 2019; 47:1489).This colonization leads to biofilm formation and seeding of the bacteria into the patients bloodstream which results in life threatening central line associated bacteremia (clabsi).The lack of a passive, mechanical shields on needle-less iv connectors renders these class 2 medical devices unnecessarily unsafe and dangerous.Their human factors defective design is further confirmed by the fact that nurses admit to not disinfecting them prior to 3% of all the infusions.Delahanty km, myers fe, ill.Nursing 2009 i.V.Infection control survey report.Nursing 2009;39(12):24-30).The 2020 central line-associated bloodstream infection (clabsl) rate is 0.87 per 1,000 central line days.An infectious diseases expert's estimate is 10,000,000 central line days in the us every year.Over three years, this would entail 261,000 central line-associated bloodstream infections, many deaths, and huge costs.An estimated 7.5 % of these infections can be attributed to suboptimal iv-connector design allowing contamination with pathogenic microorganisms.Such contamination is found in up to 23 % of connectors, where biofilm formation leads to planktonic seeding of the catheter - and whatever clots may form at the catheter tip.Clabsls follow, endangering roughly 59,600 us patients, each of whom falls under the regulatory safety jurisdiction of the fda."avacare".
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