COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The number of meningitis cases linked to a larger outbreak of the illness and recalled steroid injections for back pain has dropped from 16 to 15 in Ohio.
The Ohio Department of Health said Thursday that a 28-year-old woman in Marion County no longer meets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of this type of meningitis.
The 15 cases are in Franklin, Clermont, Marion, Morrow, Crawford, Warren, Hamilton and Union counties. They involve adults, and none have died.
Federal officials report more than 420 illnesses and 31 deaths in the outbreak linked to a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts called the New England Compounding Center. It recalled its products.
Officials say dozens of Ohio facilities received the pharmacy's products while four clinics in Ohio received the potentially contaminated steroids.
