Number of U.S. meningitis cases from tainted injections nears 300 Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:39pm EDT (Reuters) - The number of U.S. cases of meningitis from tainted injections of a steroid medication reached 294, up 12 from a day earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday. There were three other cases of joint infections from the steroid medication that have not resulted in meningitis cases, bringing the national total of infections to 297, according to the CDC. There were no new deaths reported, leaving the total number of fatalities at 23, the CDC said. The number of cases has continued to mount despite recall of the product by New England Compounding Center. Meningitis cases have been identified in 16 states and deaths in seven states. Reporting By Greg McCune; Editing by Dan Whitcomb