Aspergillus Meningitis, A Rare Fungal Disease Tied To Tainted Steroid Injections

Aspergillus Meningitis: What Is The Rare Fungal Disease Tied To Tainted Steroid Injections?

Posted: 10/05/2012 2:16 pm EDT Updated: 10/05/2012 3:49 pm EDT

UPDATED Oct. 5 3:47 p.m.: The number of people who have been sickened from meningitis has risen to 47 from the previously reported 39 (which includes five deaths), the Associated Press reported. The new cases come from Michigan, which is the seventh state to be affected by the outbreak.

* * *

Five people have died and 34 have fallen ill after being infected with a rare form of fungal meningitis, called aspergillus meningitis, from tainted steroid injections for back pain, according to news reports.

ABC News reported that fungus was found in a vial of methylprednisolone acetate, which is the name of the steroid, produced by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. Three lots of the steroid have since been recalled, the Associated Press reported.

Patients in Tennessee, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia have developed meningitis from the tainted steroid injections, according to the AP. Seventy five clinics in 23 states that administered the steroid injections to patients are now warning of potential meningitis risk.

So what exactly is aspergillus meningitis? Firstly, it's important to understand that there are several different kinds of meningitis; it can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or "non-infectious" factors like cancer, surgery, drugs or injury. Some forms of meningitis are more dangerous -- and contagious -- than others. For example, viral meningitis is not as dangerous as bacterial meningitis, which requires immediate hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bacterial meningitis can be contagious, but it's usually not as easily transmissible as something like a cold or the flu, the CDC reported. Viral meningitis is also contagious, but fungal meningitis -- like aspergillus meningitis -- is not contagious from person to person

Huffington Post