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Mexico arrests doctor and two officials accused of spreading deadly meningitis

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February 8th |

Mexican police arrested a doctor and two people implicated in the spread of a mysterious outbreak of meningitis in the northern state of Durango, which has left 35 people dead from the disease in recent months, all of them women.

Durango police early Tuesday arrested the doctor accused of using infected drugs that may have caused the disease.

Another 79 citizens have been hospitalized with symptoms of being infected, according to official data.

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The doctor, who specialized in anesthesiology, was arrested and charged with illegal practices, including the reuse of medicines in the private hospitals where he worked. His full name has not been disclosed.

Later on Tuesday, the Durango prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrest of two other people, a man and a woman, officials of the commission for protection against health risks in the northern state (Coprised) for the crimes of omission of information and inappropriate activities.

Meningitis is usually associated with a painful inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, often caused by a virus or, in some cases, by bacteria or a fungal infection.

The affected patients in Durango were likely infected with fungal meningitis while undergoing procedures at the same hospitals where the doctor worked, according to Durango state prosecutor Sonia Garza.

At a press conference in the state capital, she explained that the first procedures involving the infected patients took place last August, and that many of them had been given anesthesia for obstetric procedures.

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Garza said the detainee carried out procedures without any restrictions and added that he carried his own medication for the patients, including unauthorized regulated drugs.

The outbreak has raised concerns both in Mexico and among international organizations after the first death was confirmed last November.

Garza added that the detained doctor was the only one who performed procedures at the four hospitals where infections have been reported. She said he denied using his own medications at a hearing before prosecutors.

Reuters could not immediately seek comment from the doctor, nor locate his lawyer, but contacted his son who defended his father’s innocence.

“They made direct accusations to my dad without any proof,” he said, declining to provide his name.

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The meningitis outbreak is limited to private hospitals in the state capital, also known as Durango, according to the Mexican Health Ministry.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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