A Massachusetts hospital reportedly exposed as many as 293 colonoscopy patients to HIV and hepatitis B and C through improperly cleaned scopes.

Baystate Health said the patients underwent colonoscopies at Baystate Noble Hospital in Springfield between June 2012 and April 2013, WIAT.com reports.

According to a news release, Baystate Health spokesperson Ben Craft said the risk is due to improper disinfection procedures with colonoscopes, the instrument used in colonoscopies.
The patients at risk have been sent notifications by the hospital, so that they can receive screenings. The health system described the risk of infection as being small.

 “In June 2012 Noble Hospital began using new colonoscopes, which required a different approach to disinfection than instruments used previously at Noble,” Craft explained .

“Due to a failure in training, the disinfection of those endoscopes between procedures did not adequately expose the devices’ single water irrigation channel to high-level disinfection during the last phase of cleaning. This is similar to other, more recent problems with sterilization encountered across the country with endoscopes used for other procedures,” he wrote.

Craft said that the hospital now has a team in place to ensure proper safety measures are in place in endoscopic procedures, such as colonoscopies.