The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a contaminated droplet imported from India has caused a drug-resistant bacterium, and is now transmitting its infection from one person to another. Experts in the fight against infectious diseases said that this germ did not exist on American soil, and it is difficult to eliminate it using antibiotics. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the droplet had led to three deaths, eight cases of blindness, and dozens of intractable infections. And the US authorities were forced to withdraw all quantities of "EzriCare" drops, which are described as "artificial tears". And the US Food and Drug Administration, which supervises medicines sold without a prescription, decided to stop importing the aforementioned drop. The authority acknowledged that it did not send its representatives to inspect the Indian factory before reporting the aforementioned incidents. But she said she later checked out the Indian factory owned by the healthcare company Global Pharma. Health experts criticized the US Food and Drug Administration for not being keen to inspect Chinese and Indian pharmaceutical factories, to ensure their cleanliness and compliance with health regulations. China and India are the largest producers of medicines and the raw materials from which medicines are made. And officials of the US Centers for Disease Control and Control stated that the germ that was found in a drop of artificial tears made in India has no equal in the more than 150 cases of drug contamination monitored annually in the United States. The supervisor of the antibacterial drug resistance team at the American centers, Dr. Maruya Walters, told the New York Times that this new germ is capable of transmitting its infection from one person to another through touch, or through the spread of its infection among health care personnel. A consultant in the fight against infectious diseases said that it is difficult to eradicate this stubborn germ, especially from health care facilities. They stick to hand-washing sinks, water taps, and other damp places. Also, when it infects a person, it settles in his body. The experts added that they breathed a sigh of relief after the competent authorities withdrew artificial tears from pharmacies. However, the New York Times reported yesterday that the Food and Drug Administration did not withdraw an eye ointment produced by the Indian company itself. And officials of the US Centers for Disease Control said that they asked scientists and doctors to cooperate with public laboratories to determine the genetic map of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to find a way to treat the infections it causes in the eye and the rest of the body. This is something whose results are expected to become clear over a period ranging from months to years. And the US Centers for Disease Control and Control determined that the “Esri Care” drop was the cause of the outbreak of injuries affecting 68 people in 16 US states. Of them, 8 people became completely blind, and 4 people had to remove the pupils of the eyes to treat them. Although the US Food and Drug Administration requires that its inspectors visit the drug factory before allowing the import of its products; However, it does not take this approach with drug companies that make over-the-counter drugs. The New York Times stated that its investigators discovered that the contaminated Indian drop was imported in two shipments in 2021 and 2022. The Food and Drug Authority stopped importing the products of the Indian company Global Pharma on January 3. She justified this by the company's failure to provide specific information to be placed in the authority's records. The authority's sources indicate that its inspectors visited the Indian company's factory during the period from February 20 to March 2, 2023, and discovered a series of serious problems related to the level of sterilization in the factory's papers. One of the workers at the factory told the US inspectors that it was not their practice to sterilize the dropper filling mechanisms of the small vials. After declining to respond, Global Pharma issued a statement saying that it only markets artificial tears; But it does not manufacture it.
Clara Oliva, 68, a contact lens wearer from Florida, said she began using EsriCare eye drops to lubricate the eyes, on the advice of an ophthalmologist at her neighborhood clinic. One morning, in August 2022, she woke up to discover that her eyes were very red, itchy, and strange fluids coming from the eyes. Anxiety led her to go to the ophthalmologist the same day, who prescribed eye drops mixed with an antibiotic. However, the itching, red eyes, and dirty fluids continued over the next week. Her vision also began to deteriorate at an alarming rate. She went back to her doctors, who prescribed a number of eye drops mixed with stronger antibiotics and anti-fungal drops. But it didn't work. Meanwhile, Oliva continued to use EsriCare artificial tears in both eyes, not just one! She told the New York Times: No doctor told me to stop this drop. By the end of August, the inflammation in her eyes had worsened to an unbearable level of pain. She said that the doctors agreed that she needed a cornea transplant as soon as possible. After the surgery, the surgeons informed her that they had discovered that the eye was so infected that they had no choice but to remove it completely. “Since that day, my life has never been the same again,” Oliva said.
Okaz (Washington) @OKAZ_online