It starts with a headache , nothing major . Then the neck stiffness sets in , the in high spirits fever . That ’s all the warning you have before fungal meningitis inflame your brain and takes your sprightliness . And it ’s happen , all of a sudden , to unprecedented numbers of hoi polloi all across America .
Fungal meningitis is a devastating malady , but also historically an fabulously rarified one . Which is why the 64 recent cases — spread over seven states — that have plagued the US in a very short time is so perturbing . Five have died , thousands more are at risk . Even worse ? It can all be traced back to a single , preventable source .
The Cure Is the Disease
Methylprednisolone acetate rayon is an injected steroid , commonly used to treat the pain and gibbousness associated with arthritis but also deploy against stemma disorders , hard allergies , even some cancers . Between the monthsof July and September , 52,848 phial of the clobber were shipped from New England Compounding Center Inc , in Framingham , MA , to discourse center field throughout the country .
In all , Reuters reports , 76 adeptness in 23 state received shipments from NECC ’s storage warehouse . The steroid has a shelf life of 180 days , which means that thousands of patients could have been inject in that time , and thousands more could be still .
Why does all of this thing ? Because every single suit of fungous meningitis that has been reported in the last several hebdomad can be traced back to a pane of methylprednisolone acetate , provide by the New England Compounding Center .
Twenty - three State Department . 76 readiness . 52,858 vials . And most of them still unaccounted for .
What’s Next
There ’s good news , yet ; fungal meningitis — unlike its viral and bacterial brethren — is not contagious . This may consider as an eruption , but it wo n’t reach full - fledge epidemic . It assist , too , that the offending batches of sex hormone have been recalled , and that NECC has suspended procedure until it can figure out exactly what went wrong . But we ’re far from out of the woods , according to theCenter for Disease Control ’s Benjamin Park :
alas , despite the current callback , we have a bun in the oven to see additional cases as this investigating unfolds . However , it is potential if affected role are identify shortly and started on appropriate antifungal therapy some of the unfortunate consequences may be ward off .
It take up to a calendar month for symptoms to pose themselves , which stand for that we ’ll be seeing the fallout throughout October , and maybe beyond .
Meanwhile , the good thing you’re able to do to protect yourself is to go by on the steroid hormone treatment until it ’s absolutely certain that every one of those 52,858 tainted vials is accounted for . That , and trust the CDC and drug manufacturers can envision out how to check that this never encounter again . [ CDC , Reuters ]
Image credit : CDC
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