The President says the situation is ‘under control’ but the episode says it is at the very bottom of an unfunded program in a ‘critical’ situation.
Contaminated IV feeding bags may have caused the deaths of 13 children in central Mexico in the latest outbreak of the country’s ailing health system, according to health officials.
The Ministry of Health said on Thursday that the children, all under the age of 14, appeared to have died of blood disease after the discovery of drug-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca in November in three government institutions and one private clinic in the state of Mexico.
The department has ordered doctors to stop using the drugs supplied by Productos Hospitalarios without clarifying whether the medical company is the one distributing IV bags that may be contaminated. At the time of reporting there was no comment from the company.
Officials have not yet determined the cause of death for these people, but have investigated the presence of viruses in 20 children, finding 15 confirmed cases and four possible cases. Seven children are still in the hospital.
Asked about the number of cases, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that she was informed about the situation and that it is “under control”.
‘It’s important’
The episode marked a new low in the faltering, underfunded health system.
Last week, the director of the country’s National Institute of Cardiology said the hospital did not have the money to buy essential items, calling the situation “critical”.
Dr. Jorge Gaspar, director of the hospital, wrote an internal letter, saying that the budget cuts “have affected the purchase of the necessary equipment for the operation of the center”.
Mexico has been plagued by scandals over contaminated medical supplies for years.
Last year, authorities arrested an anesthesiologist they blamed for an outbreak of brain disease that killed 35 patients and sickened 79.
In 2020, 14 people died after a hospital run by a Mexican state-run oil company gave dialysis patients contaminated medicine.
Former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who stepped down in September, overhauled the country’s medical procurement system, promising to provide Mexicans with health care “better than Denmark”.
However, a new system of government-run warehouses has been established, plagued by chronic shortages of supplies and drugs.
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