U.S. meningitis deaths rise, prompting call for tighter drug rules

(Reuters) - A rare U.S. outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections has claimed four more lives with Florida the latest state to report at least one death linked to the illness in a widening health scare, authorities said on Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that two more people had died from meningitis in Tennessee, and one more in Michigan after receiving steroid injections.

Officials in Florida meanwhile said late Tuesday that a 70-year-old man died in July as a result of the same outbreak, the first in that state, bringing the number of deaths nationwide to 12.

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