Autopsy Confirms Virginia Man Died of Meningitis

Douglas Wingate of Salem was infected from a tainted injection

An autopsy has confirmed a 47-year-old Virginia man died Sept. 18 of acute fungal meningitis.

Douglas Wingate of Salem was infected with the form of meningitis as the result of a spinal injection, said district administrator Tracie Cooper of the Roanoke office of the state medical examiner.

While state public health officials have not identified Wingate as one of hundreds who received a possibly tainted batch of steroids, they have acknowledged one death in Virginia as a result of wide outbreak of the rare, potentially deadly strain of meningitis.

Virginia's Department of Public Health said nearly 700 people in the commonwealth may have received steroid injections from a tainted batch, and 30 people had contracted meningitis as of Thursday.

Maryland health officials said the state had nine cases as of Wednesday, including one death.

Nationally, 170 people have been sickened in the outbreak and 14 have died.


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