10/11/2012 – WASHINGTON (AFNS) — The Air Force Surgeon General confirmed that no Air Force medical treatment facilities (MTFs) purchased, dispensed or administered the contaminated steroid injection that has been implicated in the fungal meningitis outbreak reported in the national news.
In fact, no Department of Defense MTFs are included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website list of those medical facilities who received the tainted compound from the New England Compounding Center (NECC).
As reported in national news, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently coordinating a multi-state investigation of fungal meningitis among patients who received a steroid injection into their spine or other joints with a potentially contaminated product on or after July 1. Several of these patients have suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infection. The contaminated medication that was given to patients has been recalled by the manufacturer.
Patients who feel ill and are concerned about whether they received a medication from NECC at one of the affected facilities should contact their physicians, according to the CDC. Symptoms of fungal meningitis are similar to symptoms of other forms of meningitis; however, they often appear more gradually and can be very mild at first. In addition to typical meningitis symptoms, like headache, fever, nausea, and stiffness of the neck, people with fungal meningitis may also experience confusion, dizziness and discomfort from bright lights. Patients might just have one or two of these symptoms.
Officials stress that the type of epidural medication given to patients affected by this outbreak is not the same type of medication as that given to women during childbirth.
The medication was distributed in the following areas: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas and West Virginia. For additional information, updates and a list of facilities that received the recalled medication, go to http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/outbreaks/meningitis.html.
(Courtesy of Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs.)