18 die from meningitis outbreak in Upper West
As Ghana makes frantic efforts to deal with the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, it seems the country will have to do more to ensure the overall safety of its citizens.
This is because 18 people have been confirmed dead after an outbreak of meningitis hit the Upper West Region.
The current situation in the region seems to have little national attention due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
Upper West Regional Health Director, Dr Osei Kuffour Afreh, described the situation as worrying.
“This year, from January 1 to last Friday [March 13], we’ve recorded about 137 cases of meningitis… We really don’t want people to be getting such diseases and we’ve recorded some deaths, which isn’t very good. So far, we’ve recorded about 18 deaths which is quite high,” he said in an interview with Joy News.
Dr Kuffour said he did not see why such a high number of deaths should be recorded when there were systems and protocols assigned to dealing with such cases.
The Upper West Region is not the only region battling the spread of meningitis in the country.
In February this year, two students of the Nyankumasi Ahenkro Senior High School in the Central region died from the disease.
Central Regional Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Kwabena Sarpong, who confirmed the incident to theghanareport.com said, some cases had also been recorded in certain communities in the Assin South district.
The health authorities ordered the immediate decongestion of the school’s dormitories over fears there could be an outbreak of the disease on campus.
Health Service orders decongestion at Nyankumasi Ahenkro SHS after 2 die over meningitis
COVID-19 outbreak
Meanwhile, Ghana recorded two new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to nine (9).
According to the Ghana Health Service, the latest cases are all imported cases, which came from the UK and the UAE, adding that all the patients were Ghanaian nationals.
Over 300 people have been identified as contact persons of the nine infected persons.
No deaths have so far been recorded in Ghana.
The health authorities have also warned of the possibility of recording more cases in Ghana.
Coronavirus: Let’s brace for more cases – Head of Noguchi warns
It is, however, awaiting the test results of four persons who came into contact with some of the confirmed cases.