US: Meningitis death toll rises to 198

The number of documented US cases of fungal meningitis has risen yet again, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting 198 cases Saturday, including 15 deaths. The latest tally is 14 more than the agency reported Friday. And Saturday’s death toll is an increase of one more than the previous day, due to a fatality in Indiana. Meningitis cases have been reported in 13 states thus far, with Tennessee the hardest hit at 52 documented infections and six deaths, according to the (CNN). The cases have been linked to injections of a contaminated steroid produced by the New England Compounding Center. Some 14,000 people may have received the injections, the CDC estimated.