Meningitis Outbreak Worsens; 23 States Got Tainted Shots

Another Tennessean has died of a rare kind of meningitis. The total number of deaths now stands at 5, mostly in this state. Some 35 people nationwide have gotten sick so far, after receiving injections evidently contaminated with fungus. Federal officials say a Massachusetts pharmacy sent the tainted shots to 23 states. Now they’re rushing to find patients who could’ve been exposed.

Nashville was a kind of “sentintel site” in the rare meningitis outbreak, after hundreds of patients being treated for back pain at a St. Thomasoutpatient clinic received the tainted injections. Federal health officials think nationwide around 75 clinics got vials with the fungus that causes the disease. They’re not yet sure exactly how many people were exposed.

State Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner notes most of the people who got the bad shots are still fine.

“So what we would call the attack rate – from an epidemiological standpoint – of disease as a result of epidural steroid injections is far less than 100 percent… actually in the single digits.”

Officials continued to stress this kind of meningitis does not spread from person to person. They want to hear from anyone who may have been exposed by getting back-pain shots in the last few months. Symptoms like worsening headaches and trouble walking or speaking may take weeks to develop, but they say the chance of surviving seems better if it’s caught early.

The states listed by CDC as receiving tainted injections include:

California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia.