Quentin Mack
BIO 101 A
Professor Gazdik
October 30, 2012
Meningitis Outbreak
CBS News recently released an
article on the outbreak of Meningitis originating from Massachusetts. According
to the state officials, the meningitis emerged from steroid injections produced
by the New England Compounding Center, which sent out drugs that were not
completely sterile. Meningitis is often caused by allergies to drugs or fungi
and it affects the brain and spinal cord; in the case of the outbreak, the
cause of it was a strain of fungus called Exserohilum rostratum, which is a
common type of fungus but has never been the cause of meningitis before. CBS
News medical correspondent, Dr. John LaPook, determined that the fungus was a
result of poor sanitary conditions and lack of maintenance for laboratory
equipment. The investigation revealed that dirty floor mats and a leaky boiler
were the cause of Exserohilum rostratum in steroid injections, which led to an
outbreak of meningitis that had killed twenty-three people and left more than
three hundred sick. The state of Massachusetts has since revoked the license of
New England Compounding Center along with three pharmacists responsible for the
meningitis outbreak.
I
chose this article because it shows the neglect of the New England Compounding
Center to see that the proper sanitation of their products could prevent side
effects, but this outbreak was more than a simple side effect. Fungi are known
to grow in damp conditions and the lab was an exceptional area for Exserohilum
rostratum to grow in. My grandmother was a nurse so she has been exposed to
situations that required the proper sterilization of products through the use of alcohol. It was
required of her and others working with medicine to use alcohol to sterilize
needles before injections as well vials used to contain drugs such as steroids.
It just shows a lack of concern among pharmaceutical companies in the
distribution of medicine if they cannot maintain the simple standard of
sanitation which could have prevented the outbreak. The welfare of people's health is at risk if pharmaceutical companies cannot understand how easily diseases can be carried around and how people can get sick because of poor sterilization.
Work Cited:
"Mass. moves to revoke license of firm tied to meningitis outbreak."CBS News. CBS News, 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.