Fungal meningitis outbreak spreads to 9 states, infecting 105 and killing 8 – Elizabeth Cohen explains

A shocking development this morning in the outbreak of fungal meningitis currently gripping several states in the country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now saying that as many as 13,000 people may have received contaminated steroid injections causing the disease and the numbers may continue to rise. CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen has the latest on “Early Start” this morning.

Cohen is stunned that a contaminated medication could reach such a great number of people. “What failed in our system that it got contaminated in the first place and then was sent out?” she asks.

She breaks down the new numbers. “There are now, according to the CDC, 105 cases of fungal meningitis related to this outbreak and eight deaths” she reports. “It can take weeks, or even months, for someone to get sick after getting one of these contaminated injections,” she says. “That’s why the numbers are going to go up.”

Cohen encourages patients to get checked for possible fungal meningitis if they received the injection. “We have a list of all the hospitals and the doctors that received these potentially tainted injections at CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient.”

Cohen also stresses that the disease is not contagious and those receiving the injection now should be fine.