Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) protects you against transmission of pathogens during pre-cleaning and the pre-cleaning prepares the instrument for further reprocessing.
Ensure that your instrument is pretreated immediately after use. Although effective against
SARS-CoV-2, under no circumstances use alcohol, chlorine or aldehyde wipes or solutions during pre-cleaning due to their fixative properties.
The efficacy of all following cleaning, disinfection and sterilization steps may be affected.
The transport of the (pretreated) device from the examination room or the operating room to the reprocessing area should be undertaken in a closed basket or container (for example in the in case of flexible endoscopes, the Olympus ETS Plus). This eliminates the risk of microbial transmission (including SARS-CoV-2) to the environment or health care personnel.
Wearing Personal protective equipment (PPE) protects you against transmission of pathogens during cleaning and sufficiently prepares the instrument for further reprocessing. Due to its large size and envelope, SARS-CoV-2 is very prone to chemical and physical attack.
As described in the instructions for use (IFU), the outer surfaces, crevices and channels (if applicable) need to be carefully and thoroughly brushed or wiped while the instrument is fully immersed.
This avoids unintentional splashing of liquids and infectious microorganisms in the reprocessing area.
For heat-sensitive instruments like flexible endoscopes, the use of an EWD (such as the Olympus ETD or OER systems) is regarded as the most effective measure with regards to personnel safety and microbiological (including virucidal*) efficacy.
*Classification as “limited” and “full” virucidal disinfectants
According to EN 14476/EN 17111 or national institutes such as the German Association for the Control of Viral Diseases (DVV).
Check the labeling on your disinfectant.
“Limited virucidal*” (= effective against enveloped viruses) or “full virucidal*” (= effective against enveloped and naked viruses).
Therefore even disinfectants labeled as “limited virucidal” are effective against SARS-CoV-2.
Compare:
Olympus EndoDis and Olympus Disinfectant have been validated according to EN 14476 and EN 17111 under the process conditions of the Olympus ETD machines and demonstrated comprehensive virucidal efficacy. Consequently, they can be regarded as effective against all relevant viruses in the healthcare field according to the latest state of science, including enveloped viruses (the COVID-19 virus is an enveloped virus).
For OER-AW, Acecide has been validated according to required national guidelines for high level disinfectants and has been confirmed to quickly inactivate even non-enveloped viruses such as adenovirus and poliovirus, which are known to demonstrate higher resistance than enveloped viruses. Therefore, Acecide is considered to be effective against the novel coronavirus, the Covid-19 virus.
In case you use non-Olympus chemistry or processes for reprocessing, consult the respective manufacturer for further advice.
Notification Chemicals Used during Reprocessing
Although SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus, it is widely assumed that it does not react differently to chemicals than other microorganisms. Therefore the use of the same agents in the same concentrations and contact times as usual is recommended, unless otherwise instructed by the manufacturer of the chemicals. In case you use chemistry or processes for reprocessing not mentioned in the IFU, consult the respective manufacturer for further advice or follow your local rules.
Disinfectants with virucidal* efficacy are effective against SARS-CoV-2. Therefore check the virucidal efficacies of your validated disinfectant and apply the respective concentrations and contact times indicated on its label or data sheet. As stated in the IFU, instruments urgently need to be completely immersed for disinfection so that the disinfectant contacts all relevant surfaces.
*Classification as “limited” and “full” virucidal disinfectants
According to EN 14476/EN 17111 or national institutes such as the German Association for the Control of Viral Diseases (DVV).
Check the labeling on your disinfectant.
“Limited virucidal” (= effective against enveloped viruses) or “full virucidal” (= effective against enveloped and naked viruses).
Therefore even disinfectants labeled as “limited virucidal” are effective against SARS-CoV-2.
Disinfectants with virucidal* efficacy are effective against SARS-CoV-2. Therefore check the virucidal efficacies of your validated disinfectant and apply the concentrations and contact times indicated on its label or data sheet.
According to international healthcare organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and best practice recommendations, the use of disinfectants based on alcohol, sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide are most commonly used for effective surface disinfection. However, the materials of Olympus generators, light sources, trolleys and other equipment may vary, so please follow the instrument’s and the disinfectant’s instructions for use.
Room Disinfection
For Olympus equipment, room disinfection by dispersing or spraying disinfecting agents such as an aerosol with a fogger into a fully equipped examination or operating room, is not recommended. These small droplets may get into the housing of electrical equipment and cause electrical shortages and damage to the equipment.
*Classification as “limited” and “full” virucidal disinfectants
According to EN 14476/EN 17111 or national institutes such as the German Association for the Control of Viral Diseases (DVV).
Check the labeling on your disinfectant.
“Limited virucidal” (= effective against enveloped viruses) or “full virucidal” (= effective against enveloped and naked viruses).
Therefore even disinfectants labeled as “limited virucidal” are effective against SARS-CoV-2.
For heat-sensitive instruments like flexible endoscopes, the use of an EWD (such as the Olympus ETD or OER systems) is regarded as the most effective measure with regards to personnel safety and microbiological (including virucidal*) efficacy.
*Classification as “limited” and “full” virucidal disinfectants
According to EN 14476/EN 17111 or national institutes such as the German Association for the Control of Viral Diseases (DVV).
Check the labeling on your disinfectant.
“Limited virucidal*” (= effective against enveloped viruses) or “full virucidal*” (= effective against enveloped and naked viruses).
Therefore even disinfectants labeled as “limited virucidal” are effective against SARS-CoV-2.
Compare:
Olympus EndoDis and Olympus Disinfectant have been validated according to EN 14476 and EN 17111 under the process conditions of the Olympus ETD machines and demonstrated comprehensive virucidalefficacy. Consequently, they can be regarded as effective against all relevant viruses in the healthcare field according to the latest state of science, including enveloped viruses (the Covid-19 virus is an enveloped virus).
For OER-AW, Acecide has been validated according to required national guidelines for high level disinfectants and has been confirmed to quickly inactivate even non-enveloped viruses such as adenovirus and poliovirus, which are known to demonstrate higher resistance than enveloped viruses. Therefore, Acecide is considered to be effective against the novel coronavirus, the COVID-19 virus.
In case you use non-Olympus chemistry or processes for reprocessing, consult the respective manufacturer for further advice.
If disinfection has already been carried out before sterilization, the complete SARS-CoV-2 load is already inactivated. In the case of instruments classified as “critical” due to their intended use, a final sterilization step must be performed.
Where only a cleaning step is carried out before sterilization, SARS-CoV-2 will be inactivated by any validated type of sterilization method, although steam sterilization is always the preferred method for heat-stable devices.
In case you use sterilization processes not mentioned in the IFU, consult the respective manufacturer for further advice or follow your local rules.
Disclaimer: It is important to note that SARS-CoV-2 is a novel infectious agent on which limited data and evidence currently exists. Therefore, all current recommendations should be continuously reconsidered and evaluated in light of the latest emerging evidence, learnings and recommendations from various sources, and may need to be modified over time.
World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19-pandemic
Link to national resources on Covid-19
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/COVID-19/sources-updated
World Endoscopy Organisation
http://www.worldendo.org/2020/03/24/weo-advice-on-digestive-endoscopy-and-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Respiratory
European Respiratory Society (ERS):
https://www.ersnet.org/covid-19-guidelines-and-recommendations-directory
Gastroenterology
European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
https://esgena.org/publications/information-on-covid-19-in-gastrointestinal-endoscopy/
ENT
European Rhinologic Society
https://www.europeanrhinologicsociety.org/?page_id=2143
Confederation of European Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
https://www.ceorlhns.org/covid-19
European Laryngological Society
http://www.elsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ELS-PC-message.pdf
Union of the European Phoniatricians
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341056788_UEP_Position_Statement_relating_to_Phoniatric_and_Laryngological_services_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic
Urology
European Association of Urology
https://uroweb.org/wp-content/uploads/EAU-Guidelines-Office-Rapid-Reaction-Group-An-organisation-wide-collaborative-effort-to-adapt-the-EAU-guidelines-recommendations-to-the-COVID-19-era.pdf
Endoscopic Surgery
European Association for Endoscopic Surgery
https://eaes.eu/category/covid-19-statements/
https://eaes.eu/covid-19-statements/eaes-recommendations-for-surgeons-during-the-covid19-pandemic-on-demand-webinar/
In-Field Availability, Product Availability, Availability of Repair, IFUs, Hand Hygiene and PPE
Precleaning/Pretreatment, Transport, Cleaning, Disinfection and Sterilization
Olympus EndoDis and Olympus Disinfectant, Acecide
Endoscope Protection Foil
European and International Recommendations
KV-6 Medical Virus Filters
Surgical Smoke Evacuator
OR-VAC
Aerosol formation in processors and light sources in the field of medical endoscopy
A hospital-wide medical virtual presence solution, that enables teams to quickly bring needed expertise
Statement
