In what health department officials are calling an abundance of caution, facilities will be notifying patients who were given products produced by New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.
Alabama Outpatient Surgery Center in Jasper was included in the list of 44 clinics in the state.
The Eagle’s efforts to reach representatives with the Jasper surgery center were unsuccessful Friday.
Seventy-six clinics throughout the country have received vials of steroids linked to the outbreak, however. The contamination concerned steroids used to treat joint and back pain. Injections from the contaminated vials were given after May 21.
State and national health officials are notifying all individuals who received an injectable NECC product, including an drug used in conjunction with eye surgery and a drug used in heart surgeries. The medical supplies were purchased from or produced by NECC after May 21.
“Alabama health care facilities have had very limited exposure to NECC products, but individuals who have had certain medical procedures using these specific products are being notified,” Dr. Donald Williamson, state health officer, said in a press release. “If you have had adverse reactions, contact your health care provider.”
According to The Associated Press, officials with the Alabama Department of Public Health have identified 19 state residents who were treated in facilities in Florida and Tennessee that received products linked to the meningitis outbreak. Only one of those 19 patients has died, and autopsy results are pending.
A press release issued by the ADPH advised patients who had a procedure done at one of the facilities after May 21 should self-monitor for at least three months after the procedure.
Signs and symptoms of meningitis include fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting. Signs and symptoms of possible infections include fever, swelling, increasing pain or drainage from surgical site.
Patients experiencing any of these should contact their primary care provider and the health care practitioner who performed the procedure.
Meningitis is a disease caused by inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Though the condition is typically a bacterial or viral infection, the type associated with the NECC contamination is a fungal infection and cannot be transmitted from person to person.
Below is a list of the 44 Alabama clinics receiving products recalled from NECC:
Andalusia Regional Hospital, Andalusia
Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center, Anniston
Atmore Community Hospital, Atmore
Healthcare Authority for UAB Medical West, Bessemer
Alabama Pain Physicians, Birmingham
Baptist Medical Center-Princeton, Birmingham
Birmingham Surgery Center, Birmingham
Brookwood Medical Center, Birmingham
Children’s Hospital, Birmingham
Ginsburg Dermatology Center, Birmingham
Montclair Dermatology, Birmingham
Premier Plastic Surgery Center-AL, Birmingham
Rousso Facial Plastic Surgery, Birmingham
St. Vincent’s Hospital, Birmingham
St. Vincent’s Hospital Outpatient Surgery, Birmingham
Trinity Medical Center, Birmingham
Veterans Medical Center-GALA, Birmingham
Cullman Regional Medical Center, Cullman
Parkway Medical Center, Decatur
Dothan Surgery Center, Dothan
Flowers Hospital, Dothan
Southeast Alabama Medical Center, Dothan
Southeast Eye Clinic, Dothan
Surgery Center South, Dothan
Medical Center Enterprise, Enterprise
Gulf Health Hospital, Fairhope
South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, Foley
North Alabama Medical Center, Florence DeKalb Regional Medical Center, Fort Payne
Gadsden Regional Medical Center, Gadsden
Marion Regional Medical Center, Hamilton
Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville
Alabama Outpatient Surgery Center, Jasper
Alabama Orthopaedic Clinic, PC, Mobile
Mobile Infirmary, Mobile
Mobile Surgery Center, Mobile
Springhill Medical Center-Cardio, Mobile
Central Alabama Pain Management Center, Montgomery
Jackson Hospital and Clinic, Montgomery
The Surgery Center, Oxford
Bigelow Cosmetic Surgery Center, Scottsboro
Vaughan Regional Medical Center, Selma
Lanier Health Services, Valley
Brookwood Dermatology, Vestavia Hills.