Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tweet
Day in Health
by Lisa Collier Cool
Recent Posts
Does your self-control need a boost? Could eating meat raise your risk of cancer? Best And Worst Celebrity Health Advice A New Test to Predict Heart Attacks More Articles
Related Topics
Meningitis Health Topics
There is a scary new twist in the national meningitis outbreak among patients who received a tainted steroid drug. As fungal meningitis deaths and cases rise across the US, the FDA has announced that two additional drugs could also be culprits in the outbreak. About 14,000 people are thought to have been exposed to the contaminated steroid. So far, 15 have died and 214 have been stricken, mostly with fungal meningitis, the CDC reports, though some patients developed other fungal infections. The steroid was tainted with a fungus that causes a type of meningitis that can result in stroke. Now, the FDA is investigating three additional cases of suspected fungal meningitis or other fungal infections in patients who received other injected drugs made by New England Compounding Center (NECC), ABC News reports. The sterility of any injectable drugs ... produced by NECC are of significant concern, the FDA warned. Heres a closer look at this frightening outbreak. The 10 Worst Outbreaks in U.S. History
Most cases in the current outbreak were caused by Exserohilum, which Tennessee state health commissioner Dr. John Dreyzehner calls a fungus so rare that most physicians never see it in a lifetime of practicing medicine, according to the New York Times.
Whos at risk?
While anyone can catch fungal meningitis, its more likely to strike those with weak immune systems. Ironically, steroid drugs suppress the immune system and are a known risk factor for the diseaseso the combination of steroid medication and fungal contamination may have created a perfect storm of hazards in some patients. Learn More About Different Types of Meningitis
Why didnt everybody who got the tainted injections get sick?
Thats one of the more puzzling questions of the outbreak. Experts point out that some lots of the tainted medication may have been more contaminated than others. FDA officials state that at least one vial of the drug had so much foreign matter floating in the liquid that the contaminants were visible to the naked eye, the New
York Times reports. In addition, some patients received multiple shots of the drug, while others only got one injection, so were exposed to less fungus. Yet another factor could be the injection technique, since some doctors administering the contaminated drug may have accidentally punctured protective membranes covering the spine, boosting risk for infection in those patients.