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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNECC The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services Department of Public Health William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute 305 South Street, .Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 DEVAL L.PATRICK GOVERNOR Bureau of Infectious Disease TIMOTHY P.MURRAY (617) 9836550 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JUDYANN BIGBY,MI} SECRETARY JOHN AUERBACH COMMISSIONER To: Local Health Departments From: Dr. Alfred DeMaria, Jr., Medical Director and State Epidemiologist Date: October 18, 2012 RE:New England Compounding Center (NECC) Product Recall and Meningitis Investigation State health departments, including MDPH, are continuing to work with CDC and the FDA on investigating a multistate meningitis outbreak of fungal infections among patients who have received a steroid injection of a potentially contaminated product from the New England Compounding Center(NECC) in Framingham, MA. Only three lots of a specific steroid, methylprednisolone, have been linked to cases of disease; however, all NECC.products have been recalled and no additional products are being made at this time. No facility in Massachusetts received any product linked to disease. Out of an abundance of caution, MDPH is in the process of contacting all providers and facilities that received any product from NECC that could be used as an injection or intra-operatively. The FDA has advised healthcare providers to contact patients who may have been treated with any NECC medications —even those medications which have not been linked in any way to the outbreak. The goal is to give patients this information, so they can call their health care provider if they develop symptoms. These providers and facilities are also being asked to verify that any product has been either quarantined or disposed. MDPH has provided a letter for physicians to use when contacting their patients. The letter states that they have received a product that has been recalled but the medication they received has not been linked to the outbreak. Patients are advised to watch for and immediately report symptoms such as: • fever, headache, stiff neck, confusion, being bothered by bright light(if they had a spine injection); • painful, swollen or inflamed (warm and red)joints (if they had a joint injection); • red,painful eyes with or without drainage or blurry vision (if they had eye surgery);or • swelling, redness, pain or drainage from a surgical wound or other skin site (if they had another kind of surgery). In addition, we have learned that FDA is planning to make public the list of providers and facilities that have received any product from NECC. This is likely to generate additional calls from patients and providers and some of them may reach out to you. Resources for answering calls from the public • Questions about which medications are involved with the recall can be directed to the FDA website or to the MDPH Division of Health Care Quality at 617-753-8000. • Patients who are concerned that they may have received a recalled product or who have health concerns should contact their healthcare provider directly. • Patients who received a letter from their provider informing them that they received an NECC product AND who are symptomatic, should be asked for their contact information and the name of their provider. This information should be reported to MDPH Division of Epidemiology and Immunization at 617-983-6800. For more information on the national outbreak related to NECC products shipped to other states, go to the CDC web page at: littp://www.cdc.�-,ov/HAI/outbi-eaks/t)ieLijagAiL.htn�l For more information on the NECC product recalls, go to the FDA web site at: h.tt x//www,fcla. ov/Dru)s/Dru 7Safct /ucm322734.htm October 10, 2012 DPH Information release Information for Determining the End of the Mosquito Season and Other Public Health Recommendations The risk from mosquito-borne illness is considered to continue until an area has had a hard frost which will result in the death of virtually all mosquitoes.A hard, or killing frost, is defined meteorologically as two consecutive hours of temperatures below 28 degrees Fahrenheit.This will occur at different times for different communities, and there may even be variation within communities based on local geography.Sources of information to assist with determining when this has occurred can be found on the weather reports from your local media outlets and through the National Weather Service at http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/stationobs.shtmi.You may be aware of additional local resources that are available to you.Although mosquitoes are not killed until a hard frost occurs, they are extremely unlikely to be active when temperatures fall below 50 degrees in the evening, and you may wish to consider this information when making decisions about scheduling or cancelling planned outdoor events.Call 617-983-6800 with questions.