Tennessee's chief medical officer says the rate of new infections of deadly fungal meningitis appears to be declining in the state where it was first discovered. Dr. David Reagan said in an interiew that not everyone who received the contaminated medicine that caused the infections will get sick.He said the most important factor determining who does get sick is how much fungus was contaminating the vial of medication they received, not their age or even how healthy they were. Tennessee's meningitis patients range in age from 23 to 91.
Tennessee has 63 of the 257 patients sickened with meningitis or joint infections. Eight of the 20 who have died were in Tennessee.