The number of people with highly drug-resistant bacterial infections linked to contaminated eyedrops has reached 81, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
The 81 cases, up from 68 identified in March, include 14 people who have been blinded and four others who had to have their eyeballs surgically removed.
Though most infections have been limited to the eyes, the bacteria can be fatal when it enters the bloodstream. As of Monday, the CDC said, four people have died.
"These were catastrophic and life-altering infections," Maroya Spalding Walters, who leads the CDC's antimicrobial resistance team, said in an interview.
The CDC expects the case count to rise, although the rate has slowed since the eyedrops were recalled by Global Pharma in February.
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