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Published Date: 2012-10-02 13:45:19
Subject: PRO/EDR> Aspergillus meningitis - USA: (TN, NC) contaminated drug
Archive Number: 20121002.1320024

ASPERGILLUS MENINGITIS - USA: (TENNESSEE, NORTH CAROLINA) CONTAMINATED DRUG
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Date: Tue 2 Oct 2012
Source: The New York Times [edited]
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/us/tennessee-meningitis-kills-two-who-received-steroid-injections.html

After an outbreak of meningitis among patients given steroid injections in the spinal region for pain at the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgery Center in Nashville, 2 people in Tennessee have died and 9 others are ill. A patient who received the same type of treatment in North Carolina is sick, and health officials say patients in other states may be affected.

Meningitis is an infection involving the lining of the brain and central nervous system. The outbreak is an unusual type caused by a fungus and is not spread from person to person. Doctors think the infections were caused by contamination of the steroid with the fungus, known as _Aspergillus_. One lot of the medication has been recalled, and more than 700 patients who received the shots at the Nashville clinic, which has closed, have been notified.

[Byline: Denise Grady]

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[ProMED-mail awaits further information about and the scope of this outbreak, which is presumably related to contamination of the injectable steroid. The local injection of the steroid may well have a promoting effect on growth of the mold.

A previous outbreak due to _Exophiala (Wangiella) dermatitidis_ was reported in MMWR 13 Dec 2002; 51(49): 1109-12 (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5149a1.htm) and on ProMED-mail [see below]. - Mod.LL

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/3BOA.]

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