But, Grossman adds that "at this time, there is no recommendation for testing of patients who have used this product and who are not experiencing any signs or symptoms of infection." "The widespread introduction of the outbreak strain, which has not been seen before in the US, threatens to undermine efforts to prevent these highly resistant organisms from becoming more common."Īnyone who has used the recalled eye drops and has signs of an eye infection should seek medical care immediately. "To-date, extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas with genes that rapidly spread resistance, like VIM and GES, have been rare in this country, and typically associated with person-to-person spread in health care facilities," she said. But Grossman noted that the germ's widespread distribution in the US via the eye drops is "concerning." Most of the health care-linked cases had exposure to the eye drops, but some did not, suggesting person-to-person transmission, she said.Īntibiotic sensitivity testing suggests at least one newer antibiotic is still effective at treating the VIM-GES-CRPA strain. "This attribute helps facilitate their silent spread in health care facilities." Once a case is found in a health care facility, the CDC and other health officials recommend screening patients to find silent carriers, which is how some of the cases in the current outbreak were found, Grossman said. "Patients can carry these organisms on or in their body without showing signs of illness-this is called asymptomatic colonization," Marissa Grossman, a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, told Ars last month. Of the 68 cases so far, 37 are linked to clusters in four health care facilities. The bacteria can lie low, sometimes spreading stealthily, which is particularly problematic in health care facilities with vulnerable patients. VIM-GES-CRPA can be difficult to shake even if the eye drops are quickly ditched. The agency noted that Global Pharma has had multiple manufacturing violations, including "lack of appropriate microbial testing, formulation issues (the company manufactures and distributes ophthalmic drugs in multi-use bottles, without an adequate preservative), and lack of proper controls concerning tamper-evident packaging." Advertisement The products were sold under the brand names EzriCare Artificial Tears and Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Eye Ointment, which were available nationwide via Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers.īoth products have been recalled, and the Food and Drug Administration put out separate warnings for consumers to immediately stop using the products. Health officials think it was brought into the country in contaminated eye drops manufactured by Global Pharma, a Chennai, India-based manufacturer. The VIM-GES-CRPA outbreak strain is rare and has never been seen in the US before. It has the unwieldy name of Verona Integron-mediated Metallo-β-lactamase (VIM) and Guiana-Extended Spectrum-β-Lactamase (GES)-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa-or VIM-GES-CRPA, for short. Further Reading Extremely drug-resistant germ found in eye drops infects 55 in 12 states 1 dead The continued rise in cases and severe outcomes highlights the challenge of fighting the germ behind the outbreak, which is an extensively drug-resistant form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
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