CA - One dead, at least three others are infected with meningitisgreenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread |
One dead, at least three others are infected with meningitisWALNUT CREEK (AP) -- At least one man is dead and three others infected with meningitis after a Contra Costa County pharmacy apparently contaminated cortisone shots with the bacteria, health investigators said Thursday.
A 47-year-old Concord man recently died from the disease after receiving an injection at John Muir Medical Center. Thee others have been hospitalized with the non-contagious disease.
An elderly man who received similar injections also died of meningitis, though it is not clear if that death was related to the contaminated batch of shots.
About 20 patients received the injections into their spines, Contra Costa County investigators said. They said workers at Doc's Pharmacy & Home Health Care Center in Walnut Creek somehow infected the shots before sending them out for use by health workers.
-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), June 08, 2001