According to reports, recruiters enticed patients from various countries and 24 states in the US to two facilities called River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Mexico for cosmetic procedures that may have exposed them to a fungus. Both facilities have been closed down by the authorities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently monitoring more than 400 individuals who may have visited these facilities for services. They have also urged anyone who had surgery at either of the two centers, even if they are currently asymptomatic, to undergo evaluation.
CDC’s Dallas Smith stated that all affected individuals have been notified and are being evaluated. The CDC is working with transplant centers and other partners to appropriately manage patients who received organ transplants at these facilities.
Smith further explained that the medications used during anesthesia, including the epidural itself and other medications like morphine, may have been contaminated.
Recruiters in the US connect patients with these clinics for various procedures, including cosmetic treatments, according to Smith. The exposed list includes patients from Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Colombia. The goal is to ensure that these countries are aware of the situation through a public health emergency of international concern.
While fungal meningitis is not contagious and can be treated with antifungal medicines, delaying treatment can lead to life-threatening conditions.
Although both countries have requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency, immediate approval is not possible. A WHO committee needs to convene and assess the severity of the outbreak before making such a declaration. It is important to note that the WHO receives numerous alerts daily, and not all of them reach the stage of a public health emergency.
WHO spokesperson Margaret Ann Haris explained that they receive hundreds of notifications every day and evaluate each one individually.
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