Meningitis Case From Tainted Shot From Dallas Facility
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - As the number of cases of people infected with meningitis due to steroid injections continues to grow, Texas has now joined the list of states of with infected patients.
The patient, an unidentified woman from 'Central Texas' according to a press release from the Texas Department of State Health Services, was hospitalized with meningitis symptoms.
The release did not say where the woman was hospitalized, but CBSDFW has learned the woman treated with the steroid injection produced by the New England Compounding Center at a Dallas facility.
So far, there have been 184 cases reported in 12 states. This is the first one in Texas.
The CDC has put together a national map of reported cases.
The steroid shot is used to treat back pain. State Health Services say certain lots of the medication distributed by the company may be contaminated with a fungus that has developed into fungal meningitis.
Only two treatment centers in the state received shipments of the shot that have since been recalled, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Southlake and Dallas Back Pain Management in the 7500 block of Greenville.
The state says 131 people were treated with the medication at the two locations. Dallas County Health & Human Services director Zachary Thompson says the woman was treated at Dallas Back Pain Management, but is not a Dallas-area resident. Thompson says she is being treated at a hospital near her home, but would not disclose the location.
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At this point, the Southlake location has not been identified as the center that gave the unnamed woman the injection.
According to Texas State Health Services, symptoms of meningitis include fever, nausea, vomiting, photophobia, neck stiffness and headache.
