Patients whose fungal tests are negative may still be at risk in
a meningitis outbreak, as the fungus involved can be difficult
to detect, federal health officials said Thursday. Cases of the
non-contagious fungal meningitis rose to 170 in 11 states as of
Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Fourteen people have died. The cases have been linked to
injections of contaminated steroid injection made by the
Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center. Some 14,000
people may have received the injections, the CDC said Thursday,
an increase from its previous estimate of 13,000. Health
officials have been able to contact more than 90% of the
patients to warn them, officials said. But "we aren't out of the
woods yet," said Dr. J. Todd Weber, incident manager of the
multistate outbreak for the CDC. While the investigation is
ongoing, 50 vials of the injection have tested positive for
fungus. Those vials were found in the NECC facility, as well as
in clinics that received the medication.