ALBANY, GA (WALB) -
The first case of fungal meningitis in Georgia connected to tainted steroid shots has been confirmed in a Bibb County woman, South Georgia medical facilities are making clear that the risk for infection is not high.
On Wednesday afternoon, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital's Dr. Douglas Patten, Sr. V. P. for Medical Affairs, told WALB that they used only three products made by NECC out of 1,200 the company manufactures. None of those three is linked to the tainted steroids produced.
PPMH has contacted all the physicians whose patients have received any of the three compounds, and no problems have been reported. PPMH is also sending notices through the mail to those patients.
Phoebe also says that Dr. Carlos Franco, an infectious disease specialist formerly of the CDC, has been in contact with that agency, and Phoebe is ready to deal with any patient exhibiting meningitis symptoms.
Archbold Hospital in Thomasville issued this statement in response to news reports about the medicines provided by the New England Compounding Company.
The medications associated with reported known cases of fungal meningitis have not been used at the hospital. To be cautious, the FDA released a list of additional medications to be recalled which were produced by the New England Compounding Company. Of the medications on the list, the only medication the FDA recalled that we have used, Hyaluronidase, was not in our inventory when we received the FDA notice. Patients that received this medication after May 21, the date of the FDA recall, were all notified that they may be at risk and to be alert for symptoms. To date, we have not treated any patients with fungal meningitis.
Health officials say facilities in Dougherty County were on the list of facilities where shots from the New England Compounding Center were shipped, but the FDA took that list down due to errors so they are waiting to see an updated version.
It can take months for symptoms to show up, so the number of cases may rise.
"At this point, in our district, we do not have anyone who has met those particular criteria..so we are not investigating any possible cases right now," said Jacqueline Jenkins, SW Public Health Epidemiologist.
The FDA is making available two lists of customers who received products that were shipped on or after May 21, 2012 from New England Compounding Center's Framingham, MA facility.
Some of the facilities in Southwest Georgia are:
Phoebe Putney, and Premier Orthopedic Surgi Center, Albany, Archbold Hospital, Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Center, and PCA Pain Care Center in Thomasville, Tift Regional and Sole Medical Spa/Family Medical Care in Tifton, South Georgia Vein Centers in Valdosta, Southern Orthopaedic Specialists in Bainbridge, Southwest Georgia Medical Center in Cuthbert, The Laser Center Of Moultrie, Coffee Regional in Douglas, Dorminy Medical Center in Fitzgerald, and Donalsonville Hospital.
Click HERE to download the entire list.
If a patient received one of these contaminated injections, they would have been contacted by their doctor to see if they were experiencing any symptoms.
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