People urged to cancel surgical procedures in Mexico after meningitis circumstances, 1 loss of life

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — State and federal well being officers are warning US residents to cancel deliberate surgical procedures in a Mexico border metropolis after 5 folks from Texas who bought procedures there got here again and developed suspected circumstances of fungal meningitis.

One in all them died, officers mentioned.

The 5 individuals who turned sick traveled to Matamoros, throughout the border from Brownsville, for surgical procedures that included the usage of an epidural, an anesthetic injected close to the spinal column, the Texas Division of State Well being Providers mentioned Tuesday.

4 stay hospitalized, and certainly one of them later died.

Those that turned sick vary in age from 30 to 50 years previous, the division mentioned.

The federal Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention issued a journey advisory Tuesday for US residents looking for medical care in Matamoros.

Meningitis is the swelling of the protecting protecting of the mind and spinal wire and ought to be handled urgently.

Signs embody fever, headache, a stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion and sensitivity to mild.

Circumstances of meningitis might be attributable to viruses, micro organism, trauma or fungi.

Fungal meningitis, like within the Texas circumstances, isn’t transmitted individual to individual, well being officers say. It may very well be by chance launched throughout a medical or surgical process.

US and Mexican authorities are searching for the supply of the an infection, whether or not the circumstances are linked and if there are different circumstances, the Texas well being division mentioned.

The CDC urged anybody who had an epidural injection of anesthetic in that area after Jan. 1, 2023, to observe for signs of meningitis signs and think about consulting a health care provider.

Sufferers within the Texas circumstances started exhibiting signs three days to 6 weeks after surgical procedure in Matamoros.

Individuals leaving the US for prescribed drugs, dental procedures, surgical procedures and different medical therapy — also known as medical tourism — is frequent, specialists say. Moreover Mexico, different frequent locations embody Canada, India and Thailand.