11/24/12 - Following the news that two more Livingston County women have died as part of a national fungal meningitis outbreak, the hospital treating patients says more are returning for treatment after being discharged. The tainted steroids have been linked to a national wave of reported cases and fatalities, including a total of four in Livingston County. The most recent deaths were a 75-year-old woman and a 50-year-old woman. St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital has treated more than a quarter of the nationâs fungal meningitis patients and its in-patient beds have been running nearly at capacity. Ann Arbor.com reports the hospital is seeing a number of previously discharged patients returning for in-patient treatment with epidural abscesses at the site of their injections. The hospital was caring for 49 patients in connection with the outbreak as of Friday, a decrease from Tuesdayâs reported count of 74. Because of around-the-clock care needed, emergency approval was granted by the state to add new beds in a formerly vacant wing at the hospital and additional staff has also been brought in. New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts has been identified as the source of the outbreak while Michigan Pain Specialists in Brighton was one of four centers in the state that administered the steroids. (JM)
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