TikTok videos shared by a now-dead Texas woman suggest the mother-of-four contracted the fatal fungal infection after receiving liposuction, a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) and a boob job in Mexico.
Lauren Robinson, 29, died last week after undergoing cut-price cosmetic surgeries in the Mexican city of Matamoros.
While her cause of death was reported as meningitis, it was not known what types of procedures she had.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned anyone who was given epidural anesthesia (injection into the spine to numb part of the body) during surgery is at risk.
These are used in procedures such as the ones Ms Robinson underwent, which can be more than $16,000 cheaper than in the US.
Ms Robinson traveled to Mexico for liposuction, a BBL and breast augmentation done by Dr Luis Manuel Rivera De Anda. She is pictured pe-op (left) and post-op (right)
The mother-of-four was diagnosed with meningitis after her plastic surgeries, which eventually killed her
Ms Robinson had her surgery on February 27. On March 3, she said in a TikTok comment: ‘I am doing great! Just a little sore with movement but nothing I can’t handle.’
Dr Luis Manuel Rivera De Anda, who is listed as a gynecologist online, carried out her operation.
His Instagram shows a plethora of before and after surgery photos for liposuction, BBLs, and breasts and promotes an offer of full liposuction, a BBL and breast augmentation for 5,000 USD.
It is not known whether Ms Robinson’s infection had anything to do with Dr Rivera De Anda’s actions.
Dr Rivera De Anda did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
Soon after her surgery, Ms Robinson began experiencing severe headaches.
Her husband, Garret Robinson, told 12News: ‘She was great, the results were great, everything was good, she started going back to work, then she started constantly telling me, “I have a headache, something is not right,”.’
After attending multiple hospitals in Galveston, Texas, doctors took spine fluid and blood from Ms Robinson and sent it off for testing.
The mother of four was then diagnosed with meningitis.
Health officials believe the fungal meningitis can be contracted if medical devices such as the needle used during an epidural or medications such as morphine are contaminated with fungi or if proper infection prevention control practices are not taken.
In her final weeks in the hospital, Ms Robinson suffered four strokes. She is one of the three American victims who have died after the cosmetic surgery in Matamoros.
Mr Robinson said: ‘I can’t explain how it feels to go through this, and I can’t tell everyone enough, don’t do it.’
Three Texans have died after receiving cosmetic surgery, including liposuction in Mexico. Health officials say the women received treatment at clinics in Matamoros, Mexico, including River Side Surgical Center (left) and Clinica K-3 (right)
Recruiters lured hundreds of patients from across the world and 24 US states to the River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Mexico, both of which have now been closed.
It comes after mounting warnings over medical tourism, which offers highly discounted prices but poses dangers because procedures are not as well regulated as in the US.
The CDC is monitoring the condition of 184 more people who were given epidural anesthesia (injection into the spine to numb part of the body) during plastic surgeries carried out since January.
Ms Robinson showed her results two days post-op. FUPA stands for ‘fatty upper pubic area’ and a ‘faja’ is a garment worn after a BBL and liposuction to reduce swelling
But hundreds more may have been affected due to Mexico’s booming medical tourism industry, which sees around 1.2 million Americans travel south for affordable care each year, and an even greater number of international patients.
Ms Robinson in the hospital, where she suffered four strokes
The CDC and its equivalent in Mexico have asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the situation a health emergency, which could see the global agency deploy resources to track and isolate cases, quarantine contacts and screen passengers at the border.
Recruiters lured hundreds of patients from across the world and 24 US states to the River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Mexico, both of which have now been closed, for procedures like liposuction, breast augmentation or Brazilian butt lifts.
Two of the cases were confirmed after the fungus was detected in samples.
Fourteen of the cases are suspected fungal meningitis — infections of the brain and spinal cord — and 11 are probable.
The patients reported symptoms including headaches, fever, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and sensitivity to light.
The infection causes swelling of the protective lining around the brain and spinal cord, known as the meninges.
The above map shows the location of Matamoros, where the procedures took place. People are being urged not to go there for plastic surgeries
Some 1.2million US residents travel to Mexico annually to undergo elective surgery at a discount, according to Medical Tourism Mexico, which advertises that patients can save up to 80% on a comparable procedure in the US
The CDC warned that once symptoms kick in, meningitis can rapidly become life-threatening.
Test results from Mexican authorities set off worries that a deadly fungal outbreak connected to clinics elsewhere in Mexico which happened earlier in the year will be repeated. Almost half of all patients diagnosed with meningitis died in that outbreak.
The CDC urged anyone with a treatment booked in Matamoros that involved an epidural injection to cancel the procedure.
All but 17 people being monitored by the CDC live in Texas, and the majority are female.
One of the two patients who died was also an organ donor, putting five different recipients nationwide at risk.
US health bosses called for the deadly fungal outbreak to be declared an international health emergency by the World Health Organization.
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