Virginia Health Officials Report 2nd Meningitis Death

A second person has died in Virginia from a rare outbreak of meningitis, state health officials said Tuesday night.

Virginia Department of Health spokesman Matthew Lipani said the latest death involved an adult who lived in southwestern Virginia. The victim's name wasn't immediately released.

Last week an autopsy confirmed a Salem man who received a spinal injection for relief from a pinched nerve died Sept. 18 of acute fungal meningitis.

Almost three dozen suspected meningitis cases in Virginia have been reported from among 689 patients who received injections of a possibly tainted batch of steroids typically used to relieve back pain. Virginia health officials said two clinics, in Roanoke and Christiansburg, are the only medical facilities in the state to have received the now-recalled steroid from a Massachusetts supplier.

The state Department of Health and the outpatient clinics have made repeated attempts to track down all of the Virginia patients who received the steroid.

It wasn't immediately known whether the second person who died in Virginia was among those who received the possibly tainted batch of steroids. Lipani didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 15 people have died and more than 200 others have been sickened in 15 states. Almost all the victims had received steroid injections for back pain.