Fentanyl contaminated with Klebsiella pneumoniae: How this bacteria works and why it could cause a health crisis.

After several cases of people dying from the Klebsiella bacteria in countries like Argentina became known, the Public Health Medicine website clarified that fentanyl is a potent synthetic opiate used as an analgesic to treat severe pain and also as an anesthetic.

But the aforementioned medication has become a means of transmitting Klebsiella; it becomes dangerous when it is found outside the intestine, its place of origin, and lodges in other parts of the body, directly affecting a person's health.

This bacteria helps protect the body from other germs and also facilitates the digestion process when present in its original environment.

When found outside the intestinal tract, it causes infections resistant to common antibiotics used in hospitals, making it one of the most dangerous bacteria in existence today.

According to the aforementioned medical source, if the bacteria invades other parts of the body, it can cause serious illnesses such as pneumonia, sepsis, wound infections, and even urinary tract infections.

Due to its resistance to most antibiotics, treatment in infected patients can be complex and prolonged.

Furthermore, Klebsiella is easily transmitted through contact with the skin, mucous membranes, feces, wounds, or urine of an infected person.

It can also be transmitted through contaminated objects such as sheets, catheters, containers or surfaces where medical items are handled .

The case of the contaminated fentanyl became known in April, when the Italian Hospital in La Plata detected an unusual outbreak of respiratory infections in patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which were later associated with the bacteria Ralstonia pickettii and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Two years earlier, infectious disease specialist Florencia Prieto, from the city of Concordia in the province of Entre Ríos, had already reported the presence of Ralstonia in a medication from the HLB Pharma laboratory, after detecting abnormalities in the clinical progress of her patients.

"We had to investigate what was happening to these patients at each stage of treatment to see what we were doing wrong. We concluded that the only thing they all had in common was the administration of two medications. We sent both for analysis, and Ralstonia grew in the HLB Pharma dexamethasone vials," Prieto explained to EFE.

One of the most alarming cases of infection and deaths from this bacteria has occurred in Argentina. Contaminated fentanyl caused 68 confirmed deaths, although authorities do not rule out the possibility that the number could be even higher.

The HLB Pharma Group laboratory was identified as the producer of the drug involved, according to the judicial investigation initiated after the health tragedy.

It was confirmed that two batches of fentanyl contaminated with multi-resistant bacteria were marketed by this laboratory, causing at least 68 deaths and 19 infections.

The cases were distributed across several regions of the country, including the provinces of Santa Fe and Córdoba, as well as the city of Buenos Aires.

Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid used as an analgesic and an anesthetic, was administered to patients in intensive care units at at least 20 health centers in Argentina.

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With information from the EFE Agency.