A Mason County woman is in the Cleveland Clinic recovering from an unusual form of fungal meningitis. Paula Cunningham contracted the non-contagious form of the virus after receiving a steroid shot at Pars Pain Clinic in Parkersburg.
Cunningham is one of more than 200 patients at the clinic who received injections of the medicine produced at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy company, which was tainted with the virus. So far thousands across the country have been alerted to the possibility they are at risk and a few hundred have become sick. A dozen have died.
"Oh my God," Cunningham said in a hospital phone interview with WSAZ-TV. "How could that happen?”
Cunningham was notified like most patients at risk across the nation and soon noticed the symptoms. The early detection enabled medical treatment quickly and she’s been on a strong regimen of antibiotics since arriving in Cleveland.
"I’m feeling a little better," Cunningham told WSAZ. "The headache and stiff neck is going away more and more with the antibiotic they’ve been giving me."
Cunningham received the shot for constant pain in her back, caused by a previous accident. She says this is the last thing she expected when she went to the doctor for treatment of the pain.
"I’m just weak, frustrated, and aggravated," she said.