North Carolina health officials say a Davidson County resident has died from complications of fungal meningitis she likely contracted from a tainted steroid injection in her back.
State Health Director Laura Gerald said Friday's death was the first in North Carolina from the outbreak that began when a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy shipped contaminated medication in August.
Gerald says one other meningitis case has been found in the state, and that person is recovering out of the hospital. Twenty-three people have died and nearly 300 have been sickened across the nation.
Gerald wouldn't identify the North Carolina case, but her family identified her as 77-year-old Elwina Shaw of Denton. They told reporters she was sick with debilitating headaches for more than a month before health officials realized what was wrong.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
NC woman dies from meningitis outbreak
POSTED: 4:12 PM Oct 21 2012
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Copyright 2012 by WCTI12. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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