This undated file image made available by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Exserohilum rostratum fungus. Exserohilum, a kind of black mold, is the primary cause of a number of fungal meningitis cases afflicting people who got steroid back injections for pain. There are numerous ways a fungus might contaminate medications being made in a lab. (AP Photo/The Centers for Disease Control, File)
The patient received an injection of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate from one of three implicated lots prepared by the New England Compounding Center (NECC), located in Framingham, Mass. The patient is among those who reported symptoms after receiving an injection for back pain at the Forsyth Street Ambulatory Surgery Center in Macon.
At least two other drugs produced by NECC also are being investigated by FDA. One is an ophthalmic drug used in eye surgery and the other is a cardioplegic used to paralyze the heart during heart transplant surgery. To date there has not been any positive link between these drugs and the fungal meningitis outbreak. Out of an abundance of caution, the FDA is advising doctors to follow-up with patients who received an NECC injectable product shipped after May 21, 2012.
These fungal infections are not transmitted person-to-person. DPH has been working with Georgia physicians and physicians assistants to raise awareness about patients who have symptoms that suggest possible fungal infection. The symptoms include fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light and altered mental status. Symptoms of other possible infections may include fever; swelling, increasing pain, redness, warmth at injection site; visual changes, pain, redness or discharge from the eye; chest pain; or drainage from the surgical site. People who received medications from NECC since May 21, 2012 and experience symptoms should contact their healthcare provider immediately.
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