A patient with an undiagnosed illness was linked to having rare fungal meningitis. The patient was seen at an Altoona pain clinic and received an injected epidural steroid for back pain prior to getting the serious illness. Fungal meningitis is being linked to contaminated vials of steroids, methylprednisolone acetate. The steroids are made without preservatives, meaning they contain nothing to kill bacteria and have to be made in extremely sterile environments.

It is the first case in Pennsylvania that is linked to the fungal meningitis that was distributed from the New England Compounding Company. The NECC is now under heavy investigation so they have recalled all of their products and put a halt to production. There were three lots of around 17,000 vials that were shipped out, it is unknown how many unused vials are still out there.

Read the full story here. http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12289/1269339-114.stm