Ohio meningitis cases linked to outbreak up to 7

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Four meningitis cases in Marion County have been linked to recalled steroid injections and a deadly outbreak, giving Ohio a total of seven cases, the state Department of Health said Tuesday.

The people sickened in Marion County are a 45-year-old man and three women, ages 47, 50 and 55. Earlier cases involved a Hamilton County man and women in Crawford and Morrow counties.

Four clinics in Marion, Cincinnati and Dublin received the injections, which were used for back pain and made by New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts.

The outbreak of rare fungal meningitis has killed 15 people and sickened more than 200 others in 15 states.

Officials say the revised number of Ohio patients who received the injections is 425. Most have been warned to watch for symptoms.

The Ohio Department of Health also is urging health care providers to follow up with any patients who got injectable products from the Massachusetts compounding pharmacy since May. The company shut down operations and has recalled all the medicines it makes.

The state says 64 Ohio facilities purchased the pharmacy's products, including topical products that are considered low-risk, but officials don't know how many patients might have received the drugs in the expanded recall list.
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Online:
Government list of Ohio care providers that bought products from the New England Compounding Center since May: http://1.usa.gov/V7kU0r