The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have increased the number of confirmed Indiana cases of fungal meningitis to 45, this after reporting 44 cases previously. The number of deaths, however, remains at three, and the health officer for Elkhart County has announced that all three deaths were linked to his county.
Attorney General Greg Zoeller is looking to have the license of a questionable Massachusetts pharmacy suspended. Zoeller said the pharmacy is linked to the fungal meningitis outbreak that has affected 43 Hoosiers and killed three, and he is urging the Indiana Pharmacy Board to suspend their license, effectively banning them from operating in Indiana for 90 days.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this weekend that the number of fungal meningitis cases has risen to 38 in Indiana after a steroid shot became tainted with a fungus. More than 200 people across the country have become ill from the outbreak. Two Indiana patients have died, and lawsuits are being filed against companies that may be tied to the infections, including the New England Compounding Center.
With more than 200 cases reported in 14 states nationwide, fungal meningitis is causing quite a scare, and Indiana is feeling the effects as well. Twenty-eight cases of the infection have been reported in Indiana with two reported deaths, though 15 deaths have been reported nationwide from the infection that has been linked to injections of a steroid used to treat back pain.
Over 100 cases of fungal meningitis have been reported in the United States and the outbreak has killed at least seven people. The CDC and the FDA are still investigating the issue.
The cases have been linked to a tainted cortisone shot given for back pain and the pharmacy at the center of the outbreak is recalling all of its products. All products manufactured by the New England Compounding Center as of May 21 are being recalled.
