Microscopic fungus, possible cause of meningitis outbreak in Mexico 3:26
(CNN Spanish) --
The Durango State Attorney General's Office reported in a statement that it had obtained seven arrest warrants against administrators and owners of private hospitals for their alleged responsibility in the meningitis outbreak reported in that state.
As of Monday, there were 71 confirmed cases of fungal meningitis and 22 deaths, according to the most recent report from the Durango Health Secretariat.
The risk is minimal, say authorities before an outbreak of meningitis in Mexico
Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord.
It is generally caused by an infection, often from bacteria or a virus, but it can also be caused by less common pathogens, such as fungi in this case.
Health authorities have clarified that meningitis is not contagious.
The alleged perpetrators are accused of the crimes of homicide and aggravated injuries.
They are currently fugitives, which is why the State Prosecutor's Office has requested support from the 32 states, the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the National Migration Institute, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Interpol to find their whereabouts, according to the statement.
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CNN is looking for the legal representatives of those indicated, but so far has not received a response.
On November 1, the Durango Health Department reported the first seven cases of meningitis in private state hospitals, all of them with a common history of having undergone surgery.
The state health authorities have confirmed that the meningitis was due to the presence of the Fusarium solani fungus, which entered the body of the infected patients due to the procedures performed during surgery to anesthetize the patients, ruling out that the substances used were contaminated. .
The Prosecutor's Office specified in the statement that the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (Cofepris) reviewed a medicine used in hospitals as an anesthetic.
"It was determined that no growth of the fungus was found from the samples seized in said hospital and that its labeling was recognized as authentic by the manufacturing laboratory," the statement read.
The Prosecutor's Office also obtained the precautionary seizure of 17 real estate, including where the hospitals are located to guarantee reparation for the damage to the victims.
Tracking and monitoring of more cases
In an interview with various media outlets, the governor of Durango, Alejandro Villegas Villarreal, reported that 1,400 patients who underwent surgeries in hospitals from May to date where there were outbreaks have been contacted preventively to rule out more cases and Give them an antifungal.
"That we start giving them an antifungal taken orally, regardless of whether or not it comes out positive or negative in the lumbar puncture, if they were positive and have symptoms we hospitalize them immediately, if they do not have symptoms and do not come out positive we will to give an antifungal that allows us to start treating this in time and we will be monitoring them every eight days,” said the governor.
The Durango Health Secretariat reported in a statement that five patients with symptoms of fungal meningitis were discharged.
Villegas Villarreal said that the patients who have recovered give hope to others who are still being treated.
The governor added that the families of the victims will also be assisted and particularly the boys and girls who lost their mothers as a result of this disease.
Durango Meningitis