The nationwide outbreak of meningitis has touched a Virginia imaging center, which is contacting hundreds of former patients who may have been exposed to the disease through contaminated epidural injections.
Insight Imaging Roanoke, part of the Insight Imaging chain operated by Insight Health, acknowledged that it may have used supplies or medications as part of epidural steroid procedures that federal officials believe may be the cause of a series of meningitis cases throughout the U.S. There have been 47 cases of fungal meningitis and five deaths across seven states so far, according to a Web page maintained by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A report from the Virginia Department of Health indicates that infected patients received preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate from among three lots that have been voluntarily recalled by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, MA. The product was distributed to 23 states.
The products were used at the Roanoke center between July and September, Insight said. The center is calling all patients who had epidural steroid injections during that period to notify them of the situation, and to advise them to seek medical attention if they experience symptoms.
Insight Imaging is also working with the CDC on the issue. The company said that no other imaging center in the Insight Imaging network used the suspected products.
Insight Imaging was one of two health facilities in Virginia known to have used the product, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The center has contacted more than 600 patients, while the other facility, New River Valley Surgery Center in Christiansburg, has contacted fewer than 30 patients.
