NASHVILLE -- An outbreak of a rare and deadly form of meningitis
has now sickened 26 people in five states who received steroid
injections, health officials said Wednesday. Four people have died.
Eighteen
of the cases are in Tennessee where a Nashville clinic received the
largest shipment of the steroid suspected in the outbreak. The drug was
made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts that has since issued a
recall.
Three cases have been reported in Virginia, two in
Maryland, two in Florida and one in North Carolina. Two of the deaths
were in Tennessee; Virginia and Maryland had one each, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said.
More new cases are almost
certain to appear in the coming days, said Tennessee Department of
Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner. Cases in that state began in July
and five new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours, he said
Wednesday.
Investigators have been looking into at least three
different products used for the back injections that could have been
tainted by the fungus that appears to be behind the illnesses. None of
the products have been ruled out. However, the primary suspicion is on
steroid medication, which is commonly used for back pain.
The Food
and Drug Administration identified the maker of the steroid as the New
England Compounding Center, a specialty pharmacy in Framingham, Mass.
Last week, the company issued a recall of three lots of the steroid.
Company officials could not be immediately reached Wednesday afternoon
by telephone; the company's website was unavailable.
An infectious
diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University says he believes the
country will see more cases in the upcoming weeks.
Dr. William
Schaffner chairs Vanderbilt's Department of Preventive Medicine. He has
been following the investigation into the cause of the infection since
it was first detected in a patient at the university's hospital about
two weeks ago.
Schaffner said he believes part of the reason for the Nashville cluster is early detection.
Associated Press