The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are coordinating a multi-state investigation of fungal meningitis among patients who received an epidural steroid injection. Several of these patients also suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infection.
As of October 4, 2012, five deaths have been reported. Fungal meningitis is not transmitted from person to person. These cases are associated with a potentially contaminated medication. Investigation into the exact source is ongoing; however, interim data show that all infected patients received injection with preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) prepared by New England Compounding Center, located in Framingham, MA.
No cases of have been reported in Mississippi to date and Mississippi is not known to have received any of the implicated lots of methylprednisolone. The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) requests clinicians to report any cases of unexplained stroke or meningitis of sub-acute onset (1-4 weeks) following epidural injection after July 1, 2012 to the MSDH Office of Epidemiology at 601-576-7725, or 1-800-556-0003 if outside of the Jackson area (after hours call 601-576-7400).
Updates on the ongoing investigation are available here.
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