Unlike viral or bacterial meningitis, which tend to cause symptoms within hours of infection, the fungal form has an incubation period that can be as long as 43 days or more. That’s scary, since patients exposed to the tainted drugs before they were recalled could get sick in the next few weeks or even months.
Who’s at risk?
While anyone can catch fungal meningitis, it’s more likely to strike those with weak immune systems. Ironically, steroid drugs suppress the immune system—and are a known risk factor for the disease—so the combination of steroid medication and fungal contamination may have created a perfect storm of hazards in some patients.
Why didn’t everybody who got the tainted injections get sick?
That’s one of the more puzzling questions of the outbreak. Experts point out that some lots of the tainted medication may have been more contaminated than others.
FDA officials stating that at least one vial of the drug had so much “foreign matter” floating in the liquid that the contaminants were visible to the naked eye, the New York Times reports. In addition, some patients received multiple shots of the drug, while others only got one injection, so were exposed to less fungus. Yet another factor could be the injection technique, since some doctors administering the contaminated drug may have accidentally punctured protective membranes covering the spine, boosting risk for infection in those patients.
How serious is the disease?
Even with prompt treatment, fungal meningitis is a very dangerous disease that can lead to brain damage, hearing loss, learning disabilities, speech impairment, seizures, paralysis, or death. Several of the patients in the current outbreak have suffered strokes and so far, 15 have died.
How is it treated?
Fungal meningitis is typically treated with long courses of high-dose antifungal medications. IV therapy with amphotericin B is the most common treatment, according to the Meningitis Foundation of American. An oral medication called fluconalzone can also be helpful at high doses.
What’s the best way to prevent fungal meningitis?
Currently, there is no vaccine for this disease. The CDC suggests that people with weak immune systems (such as those with HIV/AIDS) avoid activities that expose them to soil (such as gardening) or bird droppings.
2012 Meningitis Outbreak: Are You At Risk? was originally published on blackdoctor.org
