India-made Eye Drop Linked to Infections, Blindness, and Three Deaths
- freepik/valuavitaly
VIVA – The manufacturer of eye drop in India that have been linked to an outbreak of serious bacterial infections in the United States (US) including infections, blindness and at least three deaths, did not follow proper protocol to prevent contamination of its products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As of Friday, the CDC had identified 68 cases of a new strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 16 states. The investigation is still underway, and the agency has to wait for states to report other cases.
Bacterial Mutation of Eye Drop Contamination
Contaminated eye drops were linked to three deaths and extensive vision loss. More than half of the cases were found in long-term healthcare facilities. Almost all of them were linked to contaminated eye drops imported from India.
"Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been around for years. In 2020, there were an estimated 28,800 drug-resistant cases in hospitals in the Us," a CDC investigator not authorized to speak to the media said.
Obat Tetes Mata.
- Pixabay/Esudroff
But the new infections revealed a form that had never before been reported in the US: carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Verona integron-mediated metallo-?-lactamase and Guiana extended-spectrum-?-lactamase.
The long name shows how its genes have transformed to make it more drug-resistant over time.
"This was a Pseudomonas original," Dr. Robert Bonomo, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland who has studied a variety of drug-resistant bacteria since 1990, said in an interview.
The CDC's investigation revealed that the infections linked to the eyedrops may be treated by only one known antibiotic, called cefiderocol.
There is nothing new about the way the mutated bacteria harm the body. It's the drug resistance that makes them so dangerous.
Eye infections have been the most common. But because the eyes are directly linked to the nasal cavity, the bacteria can move into the respiratory tract and lead to pneumonia.
