2020-2022: A chronicle of the pandemic
Infection Toll For Recalled Eyedrops Climbs To 81, Including 4 Deaths, CDC Says
Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria as seen under a microscope. Infections from the drug-resistant strain of the bacteria are linked to the use of contaminated eye drops.
Janice Haney CarrAP
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported another death and even more cases linked to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a drug-resistant strain of bacteria, found in artificial tears or eyedrops.
The bacteria strain has been found in 81 people — four of whom have died from infections, according to specimens collected between May 2022 and April 2023, according to the CDC's most recent update.
Over 10 different brands of ophthalmic drugs were involved in these cases, the CDC said. But the most common was Ezri Care Artificial Tears, which the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to stop purchasing in February.
The CDC confirmed a matching strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in opened bottles of the product and says it will test unopened bottles to test whether contamination occurred during manufacturing.
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According to the FDA, Ezricare's parent company, an India-based pharmaceutical provider named Global Pharma Healthcare, had failed to provide appropriate microbial testing of its over-the-counter eye product. The same was true of another of the company's products, Delsam Pharma Artificial Eye Ointment, which the company voluntarily recalled shortly after.
The FDA said Global Pharma failed to use adequate, tamper-evident packaging and distributed the drugs without proper preservatives.
Global Pharma did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
Two additional companies, Apotex Corp. And Pharmedica USA, recalled eyedrop products in February, though products from those companies had not been linked to infections at the time.
Per the CDC's latest update, infections have been identified in 18 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
Common symptoms of the bacterial infection include discharge from the eye, redness of the eye or eyelid, blurry vision, a sensitivity to light and eye pain.
In the most extreme cases, the infection can spread to other parts of the body, including the bloodstream. Four people have died due to infections, the CDC said. At least 14 others have experienced vision loss and four have undergone enucleation — the surgical removal of the eyeball.
Infections are generally treated with antibiotics, but the bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to multiple drugs. The CDC does not recommend patients undergo testing for infection unless they have symptoms.
In 2017, a drug-resistant strain of the bacteria was believed to have caused an estimated 32,600 infections among hospitalized patients in the U.S., continuing a downward trend from 46,000 in 2012, the CDC said in an informational tip sheet.
NPR's Juliana Kim contributed reporting.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.Npr.Org.
Recalled Contaminated Eye Drops Linked To Bacteria Have Led To A Fourth Death, CDC Says
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CDC Warns Of Rising Number Infections, Deaths Caused By Recalled Eyedrops
WASHINGTON (TND) — Over the last year, 81 people have suffered infections — four of which ended in deaths — as a result of using specific brands of eyedrops according to the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In February, the CDC and Food and Drug Administration issued three separate recalls over the course of the month for three Global Pharma products — EzriCare Artificial Tears, Delsam Pharma's Artificial Tears and Delsam Pharma's Artificial Eye Ointment — due to potential bacterial contamination. Researchers later discovered these products contained a drug-resistant strain of pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that can cause skin, gut or urinary tract infections on top of more serious issues like septic shock or pneumonia.
In these cases, patients reported symptoms of eye infections, commonly reporting redness of the eye or eyelid, discharge, blurry vision, sensitivity to light and pain in the eye. In the worst cases of infection, that did not lead to death, 14 subjects reported experiencing loss of vision and four required surgical removal of at least one eyeball.
While 10 different drug products have been linked with the infection outbreak, the most EzriCare tears were the most commonly mentioned across the 81 cases that occurred in 18 states, according to the CDC.
According to the FDA, the India-based Global Pharma did not conduct proper microbial testing of the three over-the-counter eye products linked to the infections and also failed to use appropriate tamper-evident packaging for the products, which were also distributed without the proper preservatives.
NPR reports that two other pharmaceuticals-manufacturers, Apotex Corp and Pharmedica USA, recalled eyedrop products at the time of the FDA and CDC recall of the Global Pharma eye drops but their drops have thus far not been linked to any of the outbreaks.
The FDA and CDC both implore consumers to not use either of these products if they still have them.
The states reporting infections include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
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