Meningitis death toll rises to 43
The death toll from the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the Upper West Region has risen to 43 from an initial 40.
Infections have also increased to 273 from the previous 258. This represents an increase of 12 new infections.
Upper West Regional minister, Hafiz Bin Salih, described the situation as unpleasant.
“In the case of CSM, we have recorded 273 cases with 43 deaths and this is not pleasant at all. Since the situation became unbearable, we have had cause to inform the Ministry of Health as well as Ghana Health Service and they have not taken their eyes off the ball,” he told the media on Monday.
Meanwhile, a government delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, has been dispatched to the region to assess the situation.
A section of the public has accused the government of paying little attention to the outbreak of Meningitis in the Upper West Region.
But speaking to the media, the Deputy Health Minister said the government had not neglected the people of the region.
He said the government has placed the utmost importance on the outbreak of Meningitis as it has done for COVID-19.
“The government is fully committed to managing all health conditions, not only COVID-19. And our presence here is a testimony to that particular assertion,” he said.
The outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) comes at a time when the country is battling the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
Ghana’s total COVID-19 cases as of April 27, 2020, stood at 1,550 infections with 11 deaths. According to the Ghana Health Service, 155 persons have fully recovered from the virus.
But as the COVID-19 cases continue to rise, CSM cases also seem to be on the rise.
As of March 18, 2020, the Former Upper West Regional Health Director, Dr Osei Kuffour Afreh, said the region had recorded 137 infections with 18 deaths.
The death toll increased to 40 with infections jumping to 258 on April 15, 2020.
Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, has attributed 80% of the deaths on the delay in reporting to the health facilities for medical help.
Health authorities said although the outbreak of meningitis in the region is an annual occurrence, this year’s has become difficult to deal with.
Dr. Osei Kuffour Afreh told JoyNews it had become difficult dealing with the outbreak of meningitis since it was a new strain of the disease.
Cerebrospinal Meningitis infects 258, kills 40 in Upper West Region
According to the World Health Organisation, meningitis is a serious and potentially fatal disease caused by bacteria and a cause of widespread fear in Ghana. Ghana is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries that partly lies in the meningitis belt and meningitis cases are always known to peak during the dry seasons (October to March). The five regions of the north are particularly at greater risk.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes (meninges) surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The swelling from meningitis typically triggers symptoms such as headache, fever and a stiff neck.
The mode of transmission is person-to-person contact through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions from carriers. Close and prolonged contact – such as kissing, sneezing or coughing on someone, or living in close quarters (such as a dormitory, sharing eating or drinking utensils) with an infected person (a carrier) – facilitates the spread of the disease.