El Salvador: Public warned of Pseudomonas contamination of ‘miracle’ cancer treatment

The National Director of Medicines in El Salvador is warning the public of a bacterial risk associated with the "miracle cure" product, DAVIDA, according to a La Prensa Grifica report (computer translated).

Pseudomonas aeruginosa/CDC

Vicente Coto, Director of National Drugs said that the bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was detected in the aforementioned product during a good manufacturing practices (GMP) audit.

The product in question, in which 35,000 were sold in 2015 to date, is marketed as "miraculous" since its manufacturer says it is for cancer treatment, arthritis, prostate, sciatic nerve deafness and several other conditions.

The National Director of Medicines has urged removing the product in all pharmacies, supermarkets and elsewhere where the product is sold.

According to the Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen, meaning that it exploits some break in the host defenses to initiate an infection. In fact, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the epitome of an opportunistic pathogen of humans. The bacterium almost never infects uncompromised tissues, yet there is hardly any tissue that it cannot infect if the tissue defenses are compromised in some manner.

It causes urinary tract infections, respiratory system infections, dermatitis, soft tissue infections, bacteremia, bone and joint infections, gastrointestinal infections and a variety of systemic infections, particularly in patients with severe burns and in cancer and AIDS patients who are immunosuppressed.