Women who traveled to Mexico primarily for cosmetic procedures are at the center of the CDC's investigation into a multinational fungal meningitis outbreak, the agency reported June 8. So far there have been three deaths, and the agency is monitoring more than 200 individuals who could be infected.
The individuals are from 23 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. An overwhelming majority of the patients — 190 of the 208 total being monitored — are women at an average age of 34, CDC officials said.
However, CDC officials noted that this data does not mean women are more susceptible to contracting the fungal meningitis than men, but rather many of the individuals being monitored are women who traveled to the Mexican clinics for cosmetic procedures. At this time, only 18 men are among the 208 being monitored.
Most of the individuals with possible or suspected cases, 173, are in Texas, where the infection was first identified in U.S. patients.
Cases began showing up in the U.S. May 8 after two patients received contaminated epidural anesthesia as part of a surgical procedure at two clinics in Matamoros, Mexico. Following these reports, both infection sites, Clinica K-3 and River Side Surgical Center shut down to allow for further investigations to take place.
Health officials recommend clinicians who may encounter infected patients treat them with a combination of two antifungal medications: Liposomal amphotericin B and Voriconazole for a suggested minimum of three to six months. After beginning therapy they recommend close monitoring of the patient throughout the suggested duration. So far, the primary complications seen in individuals receiving this combination therapy has been inflammation.
The CDC recommends that even asymptomatic patients be evaluated if they meet the exposure criteria, which the agency has defined as a person who traveled to Mexico since January for a procedure in which they received epidural anesthesia.