Two people died of meningitis after surgery using epidural anesthesia; there is suspicion of contamination in clinics in Mexico
US and Mexican authorities are pressing for the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency over a fungal outbreak associated with plastic surgery in Mexico. The information is from BBC.
The pressure began after the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA) identified that two people who underwent surgeries with the application of epidural anesthesia died of meningitis. There are still 25 cases”suspects” or “likely” of fungal meningitis in the United States and nearly 400 people in the US and Mexico are being monitored.
Two beauty clinics in the Mexican city of Matamoros have already closed. Authorities are urging that people who have had epidural anesthesia surgery at the River Side Surgical Center or the K-3 Clinic since January undergo a medical evaluation even if they do not have symptoms.
according to BBCmany US citizens travel to Mexico for cosmetic procedures and surgeries –such as liposuction and silicone implantation– that require an anesthetic injection around the spine: epidural anesthesia.
Dallas Smith of the CDC said that the drugs used in anesthesia could have been contaminated at the time of application or with other drugs added during surgery, such as morphine.
He said that there is currently a shortage of medicines in Mexico and, therefore, “there may be potential for an underground market”, which may have caused contamination of the medicines.
WHO declares a public health emergency when a disease spreads between countries and a coordinated international response is needed to control it.
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