A Utah resident has died after turning into contaminated with an antibiotic-resistant pressure of micro organism following a medical tourism journey to Tijuana, Mexico, the place they underwent weight-loss surgical procedure.
The micro organism, generally known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is discovered broadly within the surroundings. Infections often happen amongst folks with weakened immune methods—and most frequently in hospitals—in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.)
The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) say that the deceased affected person—who has not been named to guard the privateness of the household—is the newest of eight reported instances of residents of the state turning into contaminated with P. aeruginosa after touring to Tijuana for related procedures. Fortunately, the entire different sufferers recovered from their infections.
Interviews with the surviving sufferers revealed that seven of the eight—together with the one who died—had visited the identical surgeon, Mario Almanza, for his or her procedures. Furthermore, 5 of the sufferers mentioned that they’d been referred to this surgeon by a medical tourism company generally known as “Weight Loss Agents.”
The UDOH issued a warning urging folks to not journey to Mexico to endure these sorts of procedures after the present outbreak of P. aeruginosa was first reported in January. Similar instances of an infection with this micro organism linked to procedures carried out in Mexico have been reported throughout the U.S.
“We cannot provide any assurances of patient safety or quality of care to individuals who are considering undergoing such procedures in Tijuana,” Allyn Nakashima, supervisor of the UDOH Healthcare-Associated Infections/Antimicrobial Resistant Program, mentioned in a press release. “I cannot stress enough the safest course of action is not to travel to Mexico for these procedures. Using an internationally accredited facility is not a guarantee that your medical care will be free of complications.”
The UDOH says that anybody who acquired a surgical procedure in Tijuana since August 2018 and is experiencing signs equivalent to fever, redness, swelling on the incision web site and pus or drainage on the incision web site ought to search medical care instantly.
Infections with the micro organism—which might be unfold by well being employees or contaminated gear—might result in critical sickness and loss of life in folks with weakened immune methods.
The most popular course of therapy is antibiotics. However, growing bacterial resistance to those medicine—significantly in hospitals—is making these infections tougher to deal with. Those strains of the micro organism that are immune to a number of antibiotics are typically probably the most lethal for sufferers in hospitals.
According to the CDC, greater than 50,000 infections with P. aeruginosa happen within the U.S. yearly inside healthcare settings. More than 13 p.c of those infections are immune to a number of medicine, resulting in the deaths of round 400 folks yearly.
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images