NBC News Nearly 200 people in the U.S. may have been exposed to the deadly illness at two medical clinics in Mexico.
A fungal meningitis outbreak linked to cosmetic procedures performed at clinics in Mexico has killed four patients from the U.S. and infected over two dozen others. Nearly 200 in the U.S. may have been exposed to the deadly illness at the medical clinics, as public health officials rush to identify and test those at risk.
Two clinics, River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, are associated with the outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Patients who went to the clinics between Jan. 1 and May 13, 2023 were potentially infected during procedures such as breast implants or liposuction that required epidural anesthesia, according to the CDC. The clinics have since closed.
Dr. Tom Chiller, head of the fungal diseases branch at the CDC, estimates that officials have been able to reach fewer than half of the people from the U.S. who may have been exposed before the clinics were shut down.
Tracking patients from the clinics has been challenging, Chiller said, because some people gave wrong names and contact numbers, or the information was transcribed incorrectly.
“We’re being very aggressive and telling people to go in, yet we’re getting some hesitation on people that are asymptomatic,” said Chiller. “This is a serious illness and it can manifest late so you may not feel anything right now.”
In the current outbreak, symptoms have appeared about 18 days up to a month after undergoing surgery at the clinics. All the patients had epidural anesthesia, which is numbing medication injected into parts of the spine to block pain signals in certain parts of the body.