Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Update

By Author: Daryl Watters
Total Articles: 1
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A Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc.
West Palm Beach, Florida

In the fall of 2012 widespread use of a steroid medication known as methylprednisolone acetate put 14,000 peopleat risk of contracting meningitis. Many became ill and hundreds died in the USA. The medicationin question was made by a Massachusetts pharmacy

(New England Compounding Center) (NECC); It was not the chemicals in the medication that caused the problem, but mold living inside the contaminated medication.

According to Daryl Watters of A Accredited Mold inspection Service, Inc. The mold that caused this outbreak is known as Exserohilum rostratum. Many species of Bipolaris, Drechslera, and Exserohilum are almost identical under the microscope, the spores of all three closely related groups look a lot like snow peas under the microscope, and it is a little difficult todistinguish one from another so most labs will simply call them bipolaris spores when they find any of them in a mold inspectors air samples.

Mr. Watters went on to say all three of these families of fungi produce some of the most common spores found in indoor ...
... and outdoor air, we breathe them in each and every day.What makes the difference in this outbreak is not the type of mold, but the route of exposure that caused problems. Mr. Daryl Watters stated that because the spores were injected deep into people’s joints and spinal cords the fungus did not have to find its way through one of the immune systems most formidable defense systems, our skin. Instead the mold was given a direct free ticket into vulnerable growth sites such as the interior of the spinal cordand between patients joins. Once in these warm moist nutrientenvironments the mold was able to reproduce, spread, and cause fungal infections including fungal meningitis which is a specific type of infection where the growth is in or around the spinal cord and brain.

For example in one case, a Maryland lady died after the spores were injected into her spinal fluid where they grew, spread, andpierced blood vessels in her brain causing severe brain damage and death.

By December 17th 2012 the Centers of Disease Control reported 620 cases of this infection including 39 deaths.

Cases of infection from this mold had spread to 19 states by that point and including among other states New York, Florida, and Michigan.For some reason,most Western states had not been included in the outbreak, when asked why people in the West were not affectedMr. Watters stated that the explanationis possiblyvery simple, according to Mr. Watters the medication may have not been distributed in Western states as much, in fact at that point the only effected Western states included Idaho with one case and Texas with two cases, all other states were in the North East, South East, and Mid-West. The state with the highest number of cases was Michigan with 223 cases; the next most effected state was Tennessee with 124 cases.

As stated above Bipolaris, Drechslera, and Exserohilum are common fungi and we are exposed to them all the time. In most cases they only become a problem if we breathe elevated levels of the spores in when concentrated in indoor environments such as moldy homes. Exserohilum mold does not typically cause infection.

As an interesting side note the very species that caused infection Exserohilum rostratumprefers to infect plants and not humans. Exserohilum rostratum has been tested as a biological agent to attack a specific weed; it may one day be used to help combat an invasive exotic weedy grass known as red sprangletop, scientific name Leptochloa chinensi.

This Asian weed invades crops such as rice where the annual worldwide rice yield loss caused by this weed is estimated to be between 15 - 21%. The fungus that has cause death and pain in so many humans is not always infectious and has been demonstrated to be possibly effective at killing this invasive weed.

When asked if he has seen fungal infections ever during his mold inspection, Florida certified mold inspector Daryl Watters stated that he did an inspection for a client who previously had an Aspergillous fungal infection of the lungs, and he remembers one Miami inspection client who stated that she had the common black mold Aspergillius niger growing in her brain, he remembers another women, one living in Martin County who had a sinus infection caused by a very common and very fast growing white mold known as Mucor. This is not your typical sinus infection according to Daryl. Mucor grows very quickly in the sinuses, then follows nerves leading into the brain and can cause coma and death within a few days of the onset of infection. The inspector stated that he can never forget when that client showed him her prescription medication, a small standard looking valve of antibiotic pills that caused her $1000.00. When the infected women asked her doctor if she had to buy these expensive pills, the doctor told her only if you want to live.

Even though fungal infections are notoriously hard to combat there is a bit of sunshine at the end of the tunnel, this infections mold is treatable. Patient improvement has been demonstrated with the use of anantifungal drug known as voriconazole.

The problem that most of us face with fungi including various types of Bipolaris molds are not infections of the brain, but is foul odors in our homes, property damage, falling property values, economic loss incurred during mold removal, stress, and even missed work, missed school, and missed sleep due to upper respiratory problems interfering with a sound sleep.

Typical mold exposure symptoms often include allergy and asthma type symptoms including persistent and annoying coughing, sneezing, water eyes, itchy throat, or even berating difficulty. So if you have mold in your home it must be taken seriously and dealt with immediately with.

Sources:
Food and Drug administration
Fungal Meningitis Outbreak
fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm323946.htm.

Unprecedented 'black mold' meningitis a challenge
usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/25/mold-meningitis-challenge/1658259/

Fungal Meningitis outbreak
sccgov.org/sites/sccphd/en-us/Newsandevents/Pages/Fungal-Meningitis-Outbreak.aspxCenters of Disease Control
Multistate Fungal Meningitis Outbreak - Current Case Count
DECEMBER 17, 2012 4:30 PM EST
cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/meningitis-map.html

Exserohilum rostratum, the Killing Fungus
24 October 2012 Posted by Danny Danny Haelewaters,
scilogs.com/life_off_the_edge/exserohilum-rostratum-the-killing-fungus

EM lab P&K
Bipolaris, Drechslera, and Exserohilum
emlab.com/app/fungi/Fungi.po?event=fungi&type=primary&species=16

Daryl Watters as written dozens of articles related to mold and indoor air quality, he is the president of A Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc. and has performed mold inspections in South East Florida since 2003. You can visit his websites at: http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us or http://www.florida-mold-inspection.com