PBH and government confirm mycobacteria outbreak in BH dental clinic

The State Department of Health of Minas Gerais (SES-MG) and the Municipal Department of Health of Belo Horizonte confirmed, this Thursday (28/3), the outbreak of fast-growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria (MCR), post- aesthetic procedures. There are 16 reported cases, all of people who underwent surgical interventions in a dental clinic in the capital.

The site, managed by dental surgeon Camila Aparecida de Andrade Silveira – known as Camilla Groppo – was already inspected and closed on March 8 this year due to failures in the cleaning and sterilization process of instruments, in addition to the suspicion of an outbreak. To date, the Municipal Health Department has been notified of 16 infections and reports that the relationship between the cases constitutes an outbreak.

Last Thursday (21/3), reports were made of patients who contracted infections after having double chin liposuction performed by the dentist. This mycobacteria can cause serious conditions, with the formation of abscesses, and treatment includes surgical procedures and the use of antimicrobials for a prolonged period of time.

The Civil Police of Minas Gerais opened an investigation and will investigate the case. The state Public Prosecutor’s Office also opened a criminal investigative procedure to investigate the allegations, which bring together more than 10 patients with the same report. Two cases were identified with Mycobacterium abscessus and another with Mycobacterium spp.. The remaining samples were sent to the Ezequiel Dias Foundation for analysis and are awaiting results.

As Dirceu Greco, infectious disease specialist and professor emeritus at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), explains, any invasive procedure facilitates the entry of bacteria into the body and, generally, the Mycobacterium class does not remain in the air, but in materials.

“Therefore, it is necessary to carry out very important asepsis, with decontamination of all equipment after each procedure, following Health Surveillance standards”, he explains.

Dentist had suspended registration

The situation occurred amid an irregularity on the part of the dentist at the Minas Gerais Regional Dental Council (CRO-MG). Until Monday (25/3), her registration with the agency was suspended for not presenting her graduation diploma in the area.

The reactivation took place on Tuesday (26), “after the professional presented the valid diploma to the Council, thus fulfilling the necessary requirements to practice dentistry on a regular basis”, the CRO announced in a note.

In the same document, the council highlights that all dental surgeons must be qualified with postgraduate courses to perform procedures such as double chin liposuction, but that Camilla does not have any specialty registered with the body. Despite this, she may have studied the specialization and just not registered with the CRO, so it is not possible to verify the validity of the certificate.

Camilla Groppo’s defense states that she has the necessary training to carry out the procedures and has taken postgraduate courses. The specializations, however, were not registered with the CRO, as the body “does not ask for this requirement”, says lawyer Vinícius Xingó.