As reported by RTE News Ireland, concerns have been raised over possible CJD contamination during neurosurgery at Beaumont hospital supposedly caused by insufficient sterilisation of reusable surgical instruments.

Allegedly, the instruments were not put through the normal, rigorous isolation and sterilisation processes that are necessary when there is a chance of CJD contamination^1. This case highlights the importance of ensuring instrument sterility in patient welfare.

CJD or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a debilitating and fatal brain disease associated with highly resistant and infectious proteins. As such, normal sterilisation techniques are not sufficient when reusing instruments that have been used on CJD sufferers. Proper CJD sterilisation is both costly and risky.

Single-use instruments offer a viable alternative to reusable instruments and significantly reduce the associated risks. In cases like the above, the use of single use instruments would most likely have prevented contamination.

^{1 http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0718/463298-cjd-beaumont-hospital/}

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