Steroid-related meningitis cases rise to 105, local patients being tested

Posted at: 10/08/2012 3:19 PM | Updated at: 10/08/2012 5:14 PM
By: Associated Press & Amanda Ciavarri | WHEC.com

Health officials say the number of people sickened by a deadly meningitis outbreak has now reached 105 cases.
    
The number of deaths rose by one to eight, with another fatality in Tennessee.
    
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the count on Monday. The list of nine states with reported cases stayed the same. Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio previously reported cases.
    
Officials have tied the fungal meningitis outbreak to steroid shots for back pain. The steroid was made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts.

A Rochester medical facility confirmed to News10NBC on Monday that it’s testing some of its patients after it received shipments of a steroid shot that is linked to a deadly outbreak of meningitis.

There have been no deaths reported in New York but the outbreak has killed eight people in nine different states.

The Rochester Brain and Spine Center says it has tested patients after they received the tainted steroid shot. The patients were treated for pain management at the Henrietta facility.

News10NBC spoke with the doctor there who confirms that patients have been receiving shots, some of them have received multiple shots from the tainted batch.

The steroid shots are suspected of causing a meningitis outbreak nationally. News10NBC has not heard of anyone locally who has become sick.

Doctors at the center spent the weekend calling patients to explain the symptoms which include headaches, nausea, stiff neck and high fevers

There is an incubation period of 20 to 30 days so patients who received the vaccine in August or September may still show symptoms just later on.
    
The company has recalled the steroid which was sent to clinics in 23 states. The government last week urged doctors not to use any of the company's products.

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