4 NH residents diagnosed with fungal meningitis
All cases related to national outbreak
CONCORD, N.H. —
Four people in New Hampshire have been diagnosed with fungal meningitis, health officials announced Saturday.
The cases involve three men and one woman, all between the ages of 40 and 60. Officials said all cases are “currently under care and are being monitored.”
“We identified several of these patients, but because the symptoms, the disease in most people is so difficult to diagnose, it took all this time to get them evaluated, tested and confirmed,” said Dr. Jose Montero, NH Public Health Director.
The cases are related to the nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak, which has been linked to a steroid medication produced by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.
In New Hampshire, the medication believed to be related to the outbreak was distributed to Pain Care LLC’s locations in Somersworth, Merrimack and Newington.
“This has been a very difficult time for patients and healthcare providers affected by this outbreak,” said New Hampshire’s Public Health Director Dr. José Montero. “Our thoughts are with these patients and their families as they deal with the complicated circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident.”
To date, there have been 197 cases nationwide, including 14 deaths in 15 states.
“We have around 741 people that may have been exposed and we continue to work with them and we’ll wait for the next list of recalled products and see what happens because this investigation is going to go for quite some time,” said Montero.
As a result of the outbreak, the NECC has voluntarily recalled all medications produced since January 2012.