Federal and Texas health officials said last week that one person died after a patient received an epidural at one of two clinics in Mexico, Riverside Surgical Center and Clinica K-3. reported that a person was hospitalized. Both facilities have been closed since May 13, and no one answered calls from the clinic when the Washington Post reached out to them for comment.
Mexican health officials sent the CDC a list of people who underwent meningitis-risk procedures between January 1 and May 13. Based on that list and the additional cases the CDC has identified, the CDC said a total of 224 people may have been infected, and that number is expected to rise. Potentially at-risk patients, including men and women, are scattered across her 24 states and DC in the United States.
So far, a total of nine cases in which the patient’s spinal cord examination results likely suggested meningitis were included, but the fungus was not isolated. Another nine suspected cases have shown symptoms of meningitis, but test results are unknown at this time.
Texas Department of Health spokeswoman Chris Van Dusen said eight of the potential patients had traveled to Mexico for cosmetic surgery and are now hospitalized. A total of 15 people have been infected in Texas.
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membrane that surrounds the brain and spine. It is commonly caused by viruses, but can also be caused by fungi or bacteria. It may take days or weeks for meningitis symptoms to appear. In the first case in Texas, from 3 days after the procedure he started having symptoms within 6 weeks.
Fungal meningitis develops after a fungal infection invades or spreads to the brain or spinal cord. Symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, and sensitivity to light.
Fungal meningitis is not contagious but poses a potentially fatal threat. “If not properly diagnosed and treated, it can progress very quickly,” CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner said. “And unfortunately there have already been several deaths.”
Skinner said the CDC isn’t sure about a possible link between the two clinics, but an investigation is ongoing.
Treatment includes intravenous and oral antifungal drugs, but their effectiveness depends on how robust an individual’s immune system is. Identifying the exact fungus involved in the outbreak is another hurdle facing health officials, as different types of fungi are best treated with different drugs.
It can take weeks to identify the fungus, so treatment often begins while waiting for test results, said Stacey Rose, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine.
“The sooner we identify it, the more likely we are to treat someone and cure them with the antifungal therapy we provide,” Rose said. “The best thing we can do is put someone on broad spectrum medicine, the heavyweights in antifungal therapy, to cover your bases and ensure that patients get proper care.”
She also advises against traveling for medical tourism during the outbreak.
“If it’s something like cosmetic surgery or something that isn’t medically necessary, I’d like to put that on hold while we figure out the problem and identify the source. Let’s go,” Rose said.
Last week, the CDC issued a medical travel advisory urging medical tourists to cancel future elective surgeries until these clinics are no longer at risk. It also urges patients who have visited these clinics in the past year to see a doctor immediately.