Meningitis outbreak hits 105 people in nine US states

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19879107

Eight people have now been killed and 97 others sickened by an outbreak of fungal meningitis in nine US states.

The death toll rose by one and the number of cases was up from 91 on Sunday, said the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

It is feared thousands could be hit by the illness, linked to tainted steroid injections used to treat back pain.

Local police have been enlisted in some areas to help identify patients who might have been exposed to the disease.

[bongbong]

1. Tainted injections

This proves why we don't need more regulations! If we didn't have FDA inspections, the Free Market would take care of the problem.

[cbayer]

2. This is really, really bad, particularly because of the lag of onset for symptoms.

I have a very dear friend in Virginia who recently had a series of blocks. Thankfully, she has determined that the steroid injections did not come from the manufacturer in question, but while waiting for that info, she was panicked.

[xchrom]

3. Lag time is an awful feature of waiting for

Vital medical info.

Glad things are ok for your friend - give her our best.

[cbayer]

4. That's so sweet of you, xchrom.

She and her wife are to arrive here on Friday for a very special sail to some remote islands. We were all afraid that she might not be able to leave, but all is well.

Again, thanks for posting what you do. I don't always reply, but I do enjoy reading a great deal of what you put up.

[DavidL]

5. The real question is how does a commercial producer be enabled to...

produce any drug with fungal meningitis infection within the treatment.

What is wrong with the licensing and authorization of this laboratory, in a state well known for medical and public health advances in the last 160 years?

How did this fungal meningitis become a part of this laboratory manufacturer's possibility of contamination? What is the nature of the quality control, sterilization, and production protocol in this small laboratory or factory in the Bosotn Suburbs, less than 50 miles from 4 premier US medical collages (including Harvard)?

Fungal meningitis is not the most prevalent form of meningitis, and normally, only a few hundred people worldwide die of this illness.

There is something about this whole story that probably could generate three or more novels, but I'm anxious to read the CDC and other non-fiction final reports as to how such a rare disease could be enabled to be spread so quickly and so far-reaching, without proper controls and without instantaneous notification to other possible health-care givers to candidates for the same treatment.

In a normal day, there must be thousands of back-and joint pain sufferers who undergo treatment using some form of this drug. Why no red flags within the first 24 hours of the first incident? Or the second, or third? That is what this tragedy should trigger: how fast do practitioners get notified of potential problems in treatment supplies? Shouldn't we expect this to be revealed within 48 hours where there is a problem?

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. "Why no red flags within the first 24 hours of the first incident? Or the second, or third?"

The way it usually works is that a pattern of disease has to be noticed, before it gets the attention of CDC.
The first few deaths from something can be ascribed to "random chance"...coincidence.
Since this was a 9 state breakout, the early reports of meningitis would be randam, I should think.
and the symptoms may be mistaken for something else, esp. in the elderly.
(Symptoms include severe headache, nausea and fever as well as slurred speech and difficulty walking.)

But when more than a few incidents are reported, the CDC ( or any other investigator) has to start sifting the info. for commonalities.
It takes awhile. Actually, I am impressed that the problem was tracked as much as it was since July.
( 76 healthcare providers in 23 states between July and September.)

An older but marvelous read.."And the Band Played On" about the identification of the AIDS epidemic, does a good outline of how outbreaks are tracked and identified.

[emikofierros025]

7. Latest News

Here is the latest news about the fungal meningitis news.

http://www.semphi.com/post/1349927913/us-meningitis-outbreak-worsens-risk-still-undetected

[SheilaT]

8. The one semi-positive thing about this,

from what I understand, is that this is absolutely not contagious.