No known risk of meningitis in WNY

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A tainted batch of steroid shots have sparked a national outbreak of meningitis. What’s the risk for western New Yorkers?

The Erie County Health Department says there were no viles of the tainted steroid in western New York. Officials say residents don’t need to worry.

Nationally, there has been 35 cases of meningitis, at least five people have died. The State Health Department tells News 4, three sites in the state have received shipments of the tainted steroid.

Meningitis is being found in a steroid injection made at New England Compounding Center. Each patient infected received the injection to the spine, a common treatment for back pain. Doctors worry more cases will surface.

Patients in 23 states could have been exposed to the tainted medication, that includes patients in New York. An official with the State Health Department says three different sites in the state received shipments of the steroid. All were pulled after the sites were notified on Friday, September 28th.

At this point, officials don’t know if anyone in New York was given the tainted steroid and they aren’t saying where the three sites are located. The State Health Department says they aren’t releasing the site locations in part because it might be part of a broader recall.

Doctors say if identified early, anti-fungal therapy can fight the meningitis, which can progress quickly.