Source: CNN
Some patients who developed fungal meningitis in an outbreak linked to a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy are experiencing more health woes, officials said.
Patients are not only developing meningitis, inflammation of the thin tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord; some are also developing an epidural abscess, which is a collection of pus between the outer covering of the brain and spinal cord and the bones of the skull or spine.
Meningitis is a known complication of an epidural abscess, but what’s puzzling some health experts is that some patients were first diagnosed with and treated for meningitis and then developed an abscess.
“This is not typical for fungal disease,” says Dr. Tom Chiller, who serves as deputy chief of the CDC’s Mycotic (fungal) Diseases Branch. While he and other health officials have been hearing about epidural abscesses since the beginning of the outbreak, it is unclear how many patients have had the abscesses.
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