Steroid injections have been linked to seven deaths and 91 cases of fungal meningitis infections in nine US states. The Massachusetts Health Department said the pharmaceutical compounding company, New England Compounding Center Inc, in Farmingham, Massachusetts, shipped 17,676 vials of potentially contaminated methylprednisolone acetate to 76 facilities in 23 states from July through September. The steroid in question is used as a painkiller, normally for the back, and might have been injected into thousands of patients. Meningitis is an infection of the membranes that cover that brain and spinal cord usually caused by viruses or bacteria, but can also be caused by fungi. Two fungi, aspergillus and exserohilum, have been found in some patients. Symptoms can include fever, headache, nausea and neurological problems.

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