2 meningitis deaths confirmed in Ind.

There have now been two deaths and 28 documented cases of fungal meningitis in Indiana linked to epidural steroid injections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials with the Indiana State Department of Health had only confirmed 21 cases and one death as of Friday, but the CDC’s update was more recent. The CDC’s case counts are based on where the infected persons received the injection, not where they live. The one death confirmed by the health department was not an Indiana resident.

Though this type of meningitis is not contagious, the numbers rose significantly from last week, when there had been no deaths in Indiana and 11 reported cases.

Indiana has the fourth highest number of outbreaks of the 15 affected states, according to the CDC. So far, the CDC has counted 212 fungal meningitis cases and two peripheral joint infections connected to the injections. There have been 15 total deaths in the U.S.

Patients who received a potentially contaminated injection with methylprednisolone acetate in a product by the New England Compounding Pharmacy are at risk, according to the CDC. The New England Compounding Center announced a voluntary nationwide recall of all its products in a press release on Oct. 6.

The announcement followed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CDC and state health departments’ investigation of the NECC’s facility in
Framingham, Mass.

The Indiana State Health Department is advising patients who received the injection since May 21 to contact their physician as soon as possible if they are experiencing symptoms such as headache, fever or redness and swelling at the injection site.

The CDC is advising clinicians to continue contacting any potentially affected patients who received the injection. Infected patients may suffer strokes if not treated, according to the CDC.

There will be a CDC Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity
conference call from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday where experts will provide updates and helpful information and guidance to clinicians regarding the outbreak. The phone number and password are available online at this link.

“We are working tirelessly with our state public health partners to track down patients who may have received these medications,” Benjamin Park, medical epidemiologist for the CDC, said in a press release. “If patients are identified soon and put on appropriate antifungal therapy, lives may be saved.”

— Mina Asayesh-Brown