The Mexican healthcare system is underfunded, important medicines are regularly missing and there are scandals surrounding contaminated products. This time it concerns IV bags: 19 patients become ill and 13 children die.
More than a dozen children in Mexico are believed to have died as a result of contaminated IV bags. According to the Ministry of Health, 13 children under the age of 14 apparently died from blood poisoning. However, research into the origin of the infections is still ongoing.
Instructions for doctors
The ministry has ordered doctors across the country to initially stop using infusion bags made by the company Productos Hospitalarios SA de CV. According to the information, the infections were probably caused by the multi-resistant germ Klebsiella oxytoca. The bacteria was first discovered in November at three public and one private hospitals in the suburbs of Mexico City.
Outbreak is excluded
A total of twenty infections were investigated in connection with the multi-resistant germ. In one case an outbreak could be ruled out. Of the 19 patients, 13 children died. The remaining six are reportedly still being treated. Asked about the number of cases, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said: “It is under control.”
Mexico’s health care system is considered underfunded and important medications are often in short supply. Last week, the director of the country’s top national cardiology institute said the hospital had no money to buy essential supplies and described the situation as “critical.”
Mexico has been plagued for years by scandals surrounding contaminated medical products. According to ABC News, an anesthesiologist was arrested in 2023 for being responsible for a meningitis outbreak that left 35 dead and 79 sick. In 2020, 14 people died and at least 69 others fell ill at a state oil company clinic because dialysis patients were given contaminated medicines.
Source: Krone
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