health
In that European country, two hospitals have already been closed due to this disease.
14/3/2023
Botulism is the “rare poisoning caused by toxins produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. It can be deadly and requires emergency medical attention” according to the Mayo Clinic medical entity.
Recently, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) announced that Turkish authorities closed the services of two hospitals involved in the botulism outbreak and they opened investigations to clarify what happened.
Through a statement, the ECDC revealed that there are 67 cases of botulism (53 in Turkey, 12 in Germany, one in Austria and one in Switzerland). All patients underwent medical interventions between February 22 and March 1 aimed at helping them lose weight with gastric injections of botulinum toxin.
Of the 63 cases with available information, 60 are related to a private hospital in Istanbul and three to a private hospital in the Turkish city of Izmir. In these two centers, “the activities of the relevant departments of both hospitals have been suspended and investigations have been opened against the parties involved”.
They also detail that the investigations carried out by the Turkish authorities revealed that “authorized” botulinum toxin products were administered in the treatments, but that these products “are not approved for the treatment of obesity by intragastric injection.”
On the reasons behind these cases, the ECDC highlights that “At this time it is not clear if this event represents a therapeutic or procedural problem in the hospitals involved, or if there is a problem with the administered product.”
However, so far, there are mild and severe cases, although there have already been several hospitalizations and admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICU). Those hospitalized have received treatment with botulinum antitoxin.
European authorities ask not to undergo this treatment in Turkey
For this, there is an injection of intragastric botulinum toxin in animals and humans, which is sometimes used as a treatment for obesity, although it is not authorized in Spain.
Its effect would include the delay of gastric emptying and the induction of early satiety, with the consequent decrease in intake and weight loss. However, It presents more risks than other weight loss operations, since this toxin in high doses is dangerous.
In the case of the European patients, they are all middle-aged adults and ten of them (eight from Germany and those affected in Austria and Switzerland) received treatment at the same clinic.
Three of the cases in Germany recall the name of the product used in their operations, and in all of them it matched. The case of Austria is a woman between the ages of 25 and 44 who received this treatment on February 22.
According to this patient, her injection was “self-administered” at the clinic itself. The woman was hospitalized with symptoms of botulism (ptosis, dysphagia, dyspnea, neck weakness, general muscle weakness).
Meanwhile, the Swiss case remains suspicious and is not yet confirmed. She is also a woman, in this case between 45 and 64 years old, who also received the injection on February 22 at the suspected clinic.
*With information from Europa Press.
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