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Tag: Mexican authorities

  • WHO urged to announce suspected fungal outbreak linked to cosmetic surgery

    WHO urged to announce suspected fungal outbreak linked to cosmetic surgery

    Authorities in the United States and Mexico are requesting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency in response to a fungus outbreak connected to cosmetic operations in Mexico.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said two people who got surgeries involving epidural anaesthesia have died of meningitis.

    Almost 400 people in the US and Mexico are being monitored.

    Two cosmetic clinics in the Mexican city of Matamoros have been shut.

    Authorities in both the US and Mexico have urged people who had surgeries involving epidural anaesthesia at either the River Side Surgical Center or Clinica K-3 since January to get evaluated, even if they are currently asymptomatic.

    The CDC said it had already identified 25 people in the US with “suspected” or “probable” cases of fungal meningitis.

    Many US citizens travel to Mexico for cosmetic procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation and Brazilian butt lifts, which all require the injection of an anaesthetic into the area around the spinal column.

    The CDC’s Dallas Smith said that medications used during anaesthesia in the current outbreak may have been contaminated either in the epidural itself or in other medications that are added in conjunction during the surgeries like morphine.

    “There’s a shortage currently in Mexico, and there could be potential for a black market that could have contaminated medicine,” said Mr Smith.

    Last October, a batch of a local anaesthetic commonly used for operations such as Caesarean births was found to have been infected by the same fungus, leading to the death of 39 people in the Mexican state of Durango.

    The most common early symptom of fungal meningitis is headaches, followed by symptoms like fever, vomiting, neck pain, and blurred vision.

    Fungal meningitis is not contagious and can be treated with antifungal medicines – but it can can quickly become life-threatening once symptoms begin.

    Americans often travel to Mexico for low-cost medical services.

    The WHO declares a public health emergency when a disease spreads between countries and may a co-ordinated international response may be required to bring it under control.

  • Cancun police uncovered four bodies close to a hotel

    Cancun police uncovered four bodies close to a hotel

    According to Mexican authorities, the latest violent incident in the well-known tourist resort of Cancun resulted in the discovery of four bodies on Monday near a hotel.

    The attorney general of the state of Quintana Roo reports that two people have been detained for their alleged involvement in the murders of four people.

    Mexicans make up all of the fatalities, according to José Pablo Mathey Cruz, the municipality of Benito Juárez, where Cancun is located, secretary of public safety.

    He said the suspects are allegedly engaged in the sale and distribution of narcotics, adding that footage from local security cameras and the joint work of local authorities helped lead to their arrest.

    The prosecutor’s office confirmed earlier on Monday that three people had been found dead and an investigation was opened. Later, the office said they found a fourth body.

    Polo Gallegos, a tourist who was in the area at the time of the shooting, told CNN en Español that he heard shots while at a nearby gym at around 10 a.m. local time.

    “We heard the shots and they hid all of us in an office and they kept us there until the incident was over. Everyone kept us there until they secured the area, and right now there are police, the Navy, everyone, everyone in the beach area and it’s very uncomfortable for us,” he said.

    The security situation in Cancun has deteriorated in recent years. In 2021, the Mexican government said the National Guard would permanently deploy to Cancun and its surrounding area following a rise in violence there linked to organized crime, Reuters reported.

    There have been a series of violent incidents around the Caribbean coastal area. In early 2022, two people died after shots were fired in a hotel at Playa del Carmen, according to CNN en Español.

    There were shootings reported in late 2021 in the tourist areas of Puerto Morelos and Cancun.

    The State Department advises travelers to “exercise increased caution due to crime and kidnapping” in the state of Quintana Roo. The advisory says that violence and criminal activity may occur anywhere, “including in popular tourist destinations.”

    “Travelers should maintain a high level of situational awareness, avoid areas where illicit activities occur, and promptly depart from potentially dangerous situations,” the advisory warns.