Two Die In Indiana Bringing Nationwide Meningitis Death Toll To 15

(Newsroom America) -- Two people have died in Indiana after having steroid injections which were contaminated with meningitis, bringing the nationwide death toll to 15.

CDC said deaths have been reported in Indiana (2), Florida (1), Maryland (1), Michigan (3), Tennessee (6), and Virginia (1).

The number of infections has jumped to 198 in thirteen states.

Health officials say this type of meningitis is not transmissible from person-to-person and is believed to have come from contaminated medicine which was administered through epidural injection.

On September 21, CDC was notified by the Tennessee Department of Health of a patient with the onset of meningitis approximately nineteen days following epidural steroid injection at a Tennessee ambulatory surgical center.

On September 28, investigators identified a case outside of Tennessee, possibly indicating contamination of a widely-distributed medication.

All infected patients received preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate from among the three lots voluntarily recalled by the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham, Massachusetts, on September 25th.

The 23 states that received the recalled medication include California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, and West Virginia.

Infected patients have surfaced about one to four weeks following their injection with a variety of symptoms including fever, new or worsening headache, nausea and symptoms consistent with a stroke.