More deaths, injuries linked to recalled eyedrops
68 people were diagnosed with infections from the bacteria, which has now caused a total of three deaths and eight cases of people losing their vision
U.S. officials are reporting two more deaths and additional cases of vision loss linked to eyedrops tainted with a drug-resistant bacteria.
The eyedrops from EzriCare and Delsam Phama were recalled in February and health authorities are continuing to track infections as they investigate the outbreak.
In the latest government tally, 68 people were diagnosed with infections from the bacteria, which has now caused a total of three deaths and eight cases of people losing their vision, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday. That’s up from one death and five cases of permanent vision loss reported last month.
The CDC said four people have undergone surgery to remove an eyeball due to the infections.
The outbreak is considered particularly worrisome because the bacteria driving it is resistant to standard antibiotics.
The CDC has now identified cases in 16 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania. Most of the cases have been linked to four regional clusters and Ezricare’s drops are the only product used by patients in each of those groups.
The recalled drops were manufactured by Global Pharma Healthcare in India, where the bacteria — Pseudomonas aeruginosa — is commonly linked to outbreaks in hospitals. It can spread through contaminated hands or medical equipment.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo
¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción?
Si continúas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podrá leer en el otro.
FlechaTu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PAÍS desde un dispositivo a la vez.
Si quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium, así podrás añadir otro usuario. Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS.
¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? Accede aquí para contratar más cuentas.
En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí.
Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital.
More information
Archived In
Últimas noticias
Trump’s impact on International Migrants Day: ‘It has been one of the most difficult years, the cruelest’
Trump delivers address to the nation to exaggerate his achievements and blame Biden for the state of the economy
NASA discovers Titan doesn’t have an ocean, but a ‘slushy ice layer’ that increases possibility of life
Innocence lost in the forest of the child soldiers: ‘Each leader of the armed group had his girls’
Most viewed
- Christian Louboutin: ‘Young people don’t want to be like their parents. And if their parents wear sneakers, they’re going to look for something else’
- ‘El Limones’ and the growing union disguise of Mexican organized crime
- The low-cost creative revolution: How technology is making art accessible to everyone
- ‘We are dying’: Cuba sinks into a health crisis amid medicine shortages and misdiagnosis
- Liset Menéndez de la Prida, neuroscientist: ‘It’s not normal to constantly seek pleasure; it’s important to be bored, to be calm’
