World News
Hospitals in Colorado find infections linked to Mexican stem cell treatment
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Thursday on three cases of infections linked to stem cell treatments U.S. patients received in Mexico.
The CDC released the report Thursday on infections with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), which it described as “difficult to treat,” “intrinsically drug resistant” and “rapidly growing.”
All three patients detected at two Colorado hospitals remain in treatment. The infections were apparently contracted during stem cell injections performed at two different clinics in the Mexican border state of Baja California, located 267 miles apart.
In the past, Americans and Mexicans apparently became infected because some doctors in Mexico took multiple doses of anesthetics from one vial due to shortages or other problems, although it was not clear whether that was a possible cause in the most recent reported outbreak. Thursday.
The first case was reported in late 2022 in a woman who received embryonic stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis in October 2022.
In the spring of 2023, two male patients in Colorado were found to have infections in their joints after undergoing stem cell treatments for forms of arthritis in Baja California.
The CDC report states that “vigilance for similar cases and guidance for individuals considering medical tourism is advised.”
In the past, local problems with the availability of morphine and fentanyl led some anesthesiologists in Mexico to purchase their own supplies, carrying the vials with them and administering multiple doses from one vial to maintain their supplies.
In 2022, anesthetics will be contaminated by these practices caused an outbreak of meningitis in the northern state of Durango, killing about three dozen people, Many of them were pregnant women receiving epidurals. Several Americans died from a similar outbreak after undergoing surgery at clinics in the Mexican border city of Matamoros in 2023.
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