Microtek Medical introduces disposable stethoscope covers

Microtek Medical Holdings Inc. has announced the release of StethoClean, a new device that offers clean, disposable stethoscope covers to protect each patient from germs and infectious disease.

StethoClean attaches to the stethoscope, making twenty single-use stethoscope covers easily accessible to healthcare professionals as it travels with them throughout the day.

According to the Annals of Emergency Medicine, stethoscopes carry disease from one patient to another, spreading everything from the common cold and flu to life-threatening hospital "superbugs" such as MRSA and other staph infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 100,000 people die from hospital infection each year-as many as car accidents, breast cancer and AIDS combined. Consumer Reports on Health (September 2007) recommends that hospital staff wash their hands and clean their stethoscopes before examination to help prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infections like MRSA or other dangerous "superbugs."

"Microtek is proud to take the next step in raising the standard of care in hospitals and doctor's offices by bringing StethoClean to the market," stated Dan R. Lee, Microtek Medical's President and CEO. "By limiting the spread of infection, controlling the cost of disease and limiting risks inside medical facilities, we expect StethoClean will be embraced by patients and medical professionals alike."

"As a Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgeon, I am acutely aware that any post- operative infections can be deadly," said Dr. Donald Buckley, a cardiovascular surgeon based in Cincinnati, Ohio. "I believe that covering the stethoscope will provide protection for both the patient and the healthcare worker. Doctors will use it because we care about our patients and it is the right thing to do. Patients also will demand it. The time has arrived that implementation will become as universal as the use of disposable gloves. StethoClean is a much needed addition to the universal precautions that are now utilized during patient care in the clinical care setting."

Jennifer Giroux, registered nurse and mother of nine, invented StethoClean to protect her own children and patients from dirty stethoscopes. "I know how busy doctors and nurses get, running from patient to patient," Giroux explains. "There just isn't time to stop and wipe the stethoscope off between each patient. I was concerned about where the stethoscope had been before it was touching my own kids." Giroux, concerned about the spread of bacteria, viruses, germs and infectious disease by carriers of infection that touch the healthy and sick alike, secured the patent for StethoClean in 2003 and paired with Microtek in 2005.

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