Q+A: What experts worry about in the meningitis outbreak

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The widening outbreak of fungal meningitis that has infected 184 Americans and killed 14 people is a new phenomenon for doctors, who typically only see such infections in patients with compromised immune systems. When people do develop fungal infections, they normally get them from breathing in fungal spores, which can cause infections in the lungs of vulnerable patients, such as those who have had organ transplants. From the lungs, the infection can spread to the blood, and in rare cases to the central nervous system. …