According to the U.S. Health Officials, the meningitis outbreak resulted by contaminated steroid injections which have caused 20 deaths and 257 infections so far.
A very rarely found fungus, Exserohilum fungus, was present in one of the three lots of steroids. This caused a nationwide meningitis outbreak on Thursday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration are still testing the other lots of methylprednisolone acetate, a steroid which is used in the treatment of back pain.
Dr. Tom Chiller, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in his statement to Reuters that they are sure of the injections being linked to the infections.
"To date, CDC has no firm evidence of infection in any patients beyond those exposed to the contaminated lots," he said.
Many states were affected by this outbreak including New York, Michigan, Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
"There were a lot more spinal injections performed versus joint injections, but the infection rate may also reflect the fact that joint infections might be slower or the incubation period could be longer ... we just don't know," Chiller said.
The CDC also gave symptoms of the infection and was advised to contact their doctors at the earliest. The symptoms were said to occur after one to four weeks of being injected. Worsening headache, fever, sensitivity to light, stiff neck, new weakness or numbness in any part of your body, slurred speech are the symptoms of the infection.
A report has already been filed by the industry oversight group charging Massachusetts regulators for the irresponsible behavior causing deaths according to The Guardian. The company has accepted the responsibility of their actions and also the state authorities allowed NECC to work unopposed until the meningitis outbreak.
"We urge Congress to act quickly to address the need for new laws on the federal level to fill in the regulatory gaps so that there is clear authority over regulating these practices," Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy said in a statement.
