Public health officials said Thursday there is a "light at the end of the tunnel," referring to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggesting the risk of death or stroke is mostly gone by 42 days after exposure to the contaminated steroids implicated in a nationwide meningitis outbreak. 
 
 Contaminated injections of methylprednisolone acetate from the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts are blamed for 317 cases of fungal meningitis and other infections in 17 states. At least 24 patients have died. 
 
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 Although the medication was recalled in late September, public health officials continue to report new cases because fungal meningitis has a relatively long incubation period. 
 
 According to Dr. John Dreyzehner, the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, patients who have become ill in Tennessee show symptoms an average of 18 days after injection. 
 
 He said of the 1,009 people exposed to the potentially contaminated medication in his state, all but 250 had already moved beyond the period of highest risk, and the remainder would pass the 42 day mark by Nov. 8. 
 
 As federal investigators continue to probe the source of contamination at NECC, some lawmakers and public health advocates are calling for increased federal oversight of compounding pharmacies. 
 
 "We can't… rely on a patchwork of state regulation to assure adequate regulation of what is effectively interstate commerce," Dreyzehner said. 
 
 However, the Tennessee health commissioner added that any new oversight must balance safety concerns with the need of patients to have continued access to important medications. 
 
 "At the end of the day, we are all clinicians," Dreyzehner said. "We are all people who are providing care to people who are in need. And if we lose sight of our commitment, of our oath to do no harm, no amount of regulation can fix that." 
 
 Jonathan Serrie joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in April 1999 and currently serves as a correspondent based in the Atlanta bureau. 

 A sample of Cladosporium species, one of the fungi diagnosed in the fungal meningitis outbreak sweeping the United States, in Nashville, Tennessee on October 19, 2012. 
 
 (Reuters) - The deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis tied to tainted steroid medications from a Massachusetts company expanded to 18 states on Thursday with South Carolina reporting its first probable case of the disease. 
 
 The South Carolina patient was one of 11 new cases of meningitis reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the national total to 323, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll from the outbreak was unchanged at 24, according to CDC figures. Most received steroid injections for back pain. 
 
 New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Massachusetts, shipped the steroid to 23 states and all but five of those states have reported cases of rare fungal meningitis. 
 
 The five states which have not reported cases are California, Nevada, West Virginia, Rhode Island and Connecticut. 
 
 Health officials have confirmed that some of the medication from NECC was contaminated with a fungus that they believe was injected directly into the spinal fluid of the patients. 
 
 Another five patients have been diagnosed with infections of the joints after receiving injections from the medication. These could include infections in the knee, hip, shoulder or elbow. No deaths have been reported from joint infections. 
 
 Health authorities have said they found unsterile conditions at the NECC facility, and the company faces multiple investigations. The steroid has been recalled and authorities are pulling all NECC products from the shelves nationwide 
 
 (Reporting By Greg McCune; Editing by Vicki Allen)
– New cases are still being reported in the nationwide meningitis outbreak, but there's now "a light at the end of the tunnel," authorities said yesterday. That's because the risk of death or stroke more or less disappears 42 days after exposure to the contaminated steroid causing all this trouble, Fox News explains. One Tennessee official said that of the 1,009 people exposed in his state, 250 had already moved past that threshold, and the rest would by Nov. 8. That happy pronouncement came, however, the same day officials announced that the outbreak had expanded to its 18th state, with South Carolina reporting its first case, Reuters reports. It was one of 11 cases reported yesterday, bringing the total number up to 323. Five other states haven't had any cases, but are at risk because they received steroids from the New England Compounding Center.