腦膜炎疫情死亡人數升至14人

U.S. federal health officials say the number of deaths from an outbreak of rare fungal meningitis caused by a contaminated steroid has risen to 14.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that there are 169 confirmed cases of the disease. It says 90 percent of all patients who received the tainted medicine have been identified.

Officials say more than 50 vials of the steroid manufactured by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts have tested positive for the fungus.

They also say the company may have broken state law by making large batches of the steroid and selling it out of state. Under Massachusetts law, compounding pharmacies are only permitted to make small doses of made-to-order prescription drugs.

The patients who have come down with meningitis were being treated for back pain. Others patients were injected in the knee, neck, or ankle joints and are only at a slight risk for meningitis. Health experts say they do not know how many people will actually become sick. They say it could take several months for a fungal infection to develop.美國聯邦衛生官員說，因注射被污染類固醇而患上罕見的真菌性腦膜炎而死亡的人數升至14人。

美國疾病控制中心星期四說，已經有169個被證實的病例。該中心說，已經找到90%接受了被污染針劑注射的病人。

官員們說，麻薩諸塞州的新英格蘭化合物中心生產的類固醇中，經檢驗受到真菌污染的玻璃瓶針劑超過五十個。

他們還說，這家公司有可能違反了麻薩諸塞州的法律，大批量生產類固醇，並向外州出售。根據麻薩諸塞州法律，合成藥物只允許生產小劑量的定做的處方藥。

病人爲了治療背部疼痛卻患上腦膜炎。其他一些病人在膝蓋、脖子或踝關節接受注射，他們患上腦膜炎的風險不大。衛生專家說，他們不清楚將會有多少人生病。他們說，真菌感染的過程可能會幾個月。