News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Local & Bistate

October 13, 2012

CDC: Indiana has 2nd death from fungal meningitis

Patient not from Terre Haute facility

INDIANAPOLIS — A second person has died from fungal meningitis after receiving an injection in Indiana that’s been linked to tainted steroids used for back pain, state and federal health officials said Saturday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the second death on its website Saturday and said three additional cases of the rare disease had been reported in Indiana, raising the state’s total to 27. The outbreak has affected 13 states and caused 15 deaths nationwide.

State Department of Health spokesman Ken Severson confirmed the CDC report but said he had no additional information about the death. He said was trying to determine whether the second death was an Indiana resident. Family members of an 89-year-old southern Michigan woman who received two shots at a northern Indiana clinic said earlier this week that they believed she was Indiana’s first death.

Indiana’s cases involve patients at six health facilities that received a steroid recalled by a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy. Those clinics are in Elkhart, Evansville, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Terre Haute and Columbus.

Officials at the clinics in Elkhart and Terre Haute told The Associated Press that the second death was not linked to their facilities.

A spokeswoman for the clinic in Fort Wayne said earlier this week she did not believe any of the reported meningitis cases were contracted at her clinic because the current outbreak was spread through spinal injections, which her facility does not administer.

A spokeswoman at the Evansville clinic said she didn’t know if the new death was one of its patients, and the clinics in South Bend and Columbus did not respond to phone calls Saturday.

Lisa Ann Durbin of Decatur, Mich., said Saturday her family was still awaiting results from her grandmother’s autopsy. Pauline Burema, 89, of Cassopolis, Mich., died Wednesday at a daughter’s home in Bristol, Ind.

Doctors told the family they think Burema contracted fungal meningitis from shots she received Aug. 22 and Sept. 8 at OSMC Outpatient Surgery Center in Elkhart.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a death from fungal meningitis Thursday, and a spokeswoman at the Michigan Department of Community Health said a Cass County, Mich., resident died of fungal meningitis after being treated for back pain in Indiana. Cassopolis is in Cass County.

Don Hammond, chief executive officer of the Elkhart clinic, said 400 patients there received injections from three lots of the tainted medicine, and all have been notified of the threat of contracting meningitis.

The steroid originated at the New England Compounding Center, a specialty pharmacy in Framingham, Mass.

The steroid is often used to treat back pain. Meningitis is an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, and a back injection would put any contaminant in more direct contact with that lining.  

Patients who have received a steroid injection on or after May 21 and are experiencing symptoms — such as a new or worsening headache, fever, neck stiffness or pain, redness or swelling at the injection site — should immediately contact their physician, the Indiana health department said.

The type of meningitis involved in the outbreak is not contagious.



Follow Charles Wilson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharlesDWilson

 

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local & Bistate
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On' Hoffa Mystery Still Fascinates After 4 Decades Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail 3 Charged in Ohio With Enslaving Mom, Daughter Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park Raw: Marines Land Osprey on Japanese Ship Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled Pa. Girl Who Took on Donor Rules Gets Lungs Raw: Obama Arrives in Berlin Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again Rain Damages Brazil Soccer Stadium Prosecutors Push for Smartphone "Kill Switch" Obama Welcomes WNBA Champions to White House Raw: Australian Begins Cuba to Florida Swim Google Launches Internet-beaming Balloons Obama Seeks G-8 Support on Syria Falling Cable Hurts 10 NASCAR Fans
NDN Video
Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent' WATCH IT: Lil Wayne tramples American flag Mariah Carey Looks Beautiful in a Tiny Cut-Out Swimsuit Out of Control Boat Throws Passengers Overboard See Lindsay Lohan in Rehab Sofia Vergara Posts Perky Backside Pic in Thong Gaga Ditches Her Crazy Couture Caught on Tape: Teacher Accused of Beating Autistic Child "Stay Classy" Campaign Aims to Curb Binge Drinking Sesame Street Tackling Tough Topic Parents in Jail Miss Utah Fumbles Interview Question Deranged man claims Newark-bound flight was poisoned
Parade
Magazine

Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

     

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News