THIRD American dies of fungal brain infection linked to plastic surgery in Mexico: CDC says anyone who has crossed border for certain cosmetic operations should go to ER NOW – amid fears hundreds may be infected
Another American has died after undergoing cosmetic surgery in Mexico, health officials have revealed.
The individual died of a fungal brain infection which American doctors believe was contracted from unsterilized equipment south of the border.
They are the third person to die of fungal meningitis after traveling to Mexico for cut-price plastic surgeries after two Texas women died last week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 200 Americans who visited clinics in Matamoros between January and May 13 could be at risk, and urged people to get to the emergency room as soon as possible. closest to be evaluated, even if they do not have symptoms.
US health bosses have called for the deadly fungal outbreak to be declared an international health emergency by the World Health Organization.
Three people have died Texans have died after undergoing cosmetic surgery, including liposuction, in Mexico. Health officials say the women were treated at clinics in Matamoros, Mexico, including the River Side Surgical Center (left) and Clinica K-3 (right)
The map above shows the location of Matamoros, where the proceedings took place. People are advised not to go there for plastic surgeries
It comes after growing warnings about medical tourism, which offers deep discounts but poses dangers because the procedures are not as well regulated as in the United States.
The CDC is monitoring the condition of 185 additional people who have received epidural anesthesia (injection in the spine to numb part of the body) in plastic surgeries performed since January.
But hundreds more may have been affected due to Mexico’s booming medical tourism industry, which sees an estimated 1.2 million Americans travel south each year for affordable care, and a number even greater number of international patients.
The CDC and its equivalent in Mexico have asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the situation a health emergency, which could see the global agency deploy resources to track and isolate cases, quarantine contact and control passengers at the border.
Recruiters have drawn hundreds of patients from around the world and 24 U.S. states to River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Mexico, both of which have been closed, for procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation or the Brazilian butt lift.
Two of the cases are not
Fourteen of the cases are suspected of fungal meningitis – infections of the brain and spinal cord – and 11 are probable.
Patients have reported symptoms including headache, fever, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and sensitivity to light.
The infection causes swelling of the protective membrane around the brain and spinal cord, known as the meninges.
Once symptoms appear, meningitis can quickly become fatal, the CDC has warned.
Test results from Mexican authorities have raised concerns that a deadly fungal outbreak linked to clinics elsewhere in Mexico that occurred earlier in the year could happen again. Nearly half of all patients diagnosed with meningitis died during this epidemic.
