Rare meningitis kills five in U.S

Washington -  Five people have died in the U.S. from a rare form of meningitis after receiving injections of a steroid commonly used to alleviate back pain, news reports said on Thursday.

The government Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the Southern city of Atlanta, Georgia, said it was coordinating a multi-state investigation among patients who received the injections into the spine.

In addition to the five deaths, the illness, which is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord,
has made 30 people sick in six states, officials with the centre said.

The meningitis in several patients was found to be caused by a fungus that is common in the environment but rarely causes meningitis, the centre said.

This form of meningitis is not contagious, but because the injections were administered directly into the patient’s spine, the
pathogen had a direct route to the spinal cord and the brain.

The source of the infections was traced to steroids placed in syringes made at New England Compounding Centre, a specialty pharmacy in Framingham, Massachusetts, news reports said.

The outbreak could spread as the products have been distributed to 75 facilities in 23 states.

The Food and Drug Administration advised clinics to discontinue using all of the company’s products, the agency’s Ilisa Bernstein
said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The company voluntarily recalled the syringes and suspended operations. (dpa/NAN)