Cases of meningitis and the attendant fatality rate have been going down considerably since the beginning of February, this year, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira, has said.
As of February 5, 2016, the country had recorded 456 cases with 85 fatalities, while afterwards to date, 93 new cases with eight fatalities had been recorded.
In all, 584 suspected cases have been recorded since December 2015, with 93 deaths recorded nationwide.
Dr Denkyira made this known in Accra Monday, when he briefed journalists on the current situation of the disease since it was reported in December 2015.
He attributed the decline in the fatality rate to the intensive nature of the national response measures, particularly public education, which had resulted in, among others, quick reporting of suspected cases.
However, he said, outbreaks due to meningococcal meningitis remained a major public health challenge in the meningitis belt.
Meningitis
Meningitis is an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord.
The common bacteria which causes meningitis in Ghana are pneumococcal, Neisseria meningitides and homophile influenza type B.
The germs that cause it can be passed from one person to another through coughing and sneezing and through close contact.
The disease manifests itself as fever, persistent headache, stiff neck and altered consciousness, among other symptoms.
Regional cases
The Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions and their neighbouring districts in the Brong Ahafo and the Volta regions lie in the meningitis belt of Africa where the condition is endemic.
“All the regions have recorded cases, except the Central Region.
Brong Ahafo is the most active region, reporting new cases within 18 districts in the region, including Tain, Wenchi, Techiman and Jaman North,” he said.
He said the Tain and Jaman North districts crossed the epidemic threshold of 10 out of every 10,000 sampled people in the area having meningitis.
The Brong Ahafo Region has recorded 359 cases with 52 deaths since the outbreak in December 2015, while the Northern Region has recorded 62 cases, with 15 deaths.
Forty-four cases have been reported in the Upper West Region with nine deaths, while the Ashanti Region has had 18 cases with eight deaths.
The Greater Accra Region has recorded five cases with two deaths; Eastern, four cases with three deaths; Upper East, 47 cases with two deaths; Volta, seven cases with one death, and Western, two cases with one death.
There has been no reported case of the deadly disease in the Central Region.
“The weather continues to be harsh and makes it easy for the occurrence of sporadic cases, but with enhanced surveillance, cases will be detected early and managed with available appropriate antibiotics for favourable outcomes,” he said.
Dr Denkyira said the harsh weather conditions were a constant recipe for more cases to occur and, therefore, the whole country should be on red alert to report any suspected cases.
He said, however, that the national health system was working relentlessly with development partners to control the situation.
Interventions
The Head of Disease Surveillance Unit of the GHS, Dr Badu Sakordie, said the GHS, supported by officials from the district assemblies and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), was on the ground to contain the disease.
According to him, the national response team was also on red alert and, therefore, there was no cause for alarm.
Besides, he said, health professionals had been re-oriented to the management of meningitis and the government had the needed support for health workers.
Other interventions, he said, included the provision and distribution of 7,500 antibiotics to the 10 regions and the involvement of all stakeholders in the ongoing management campaign.
He called on members of the public as, a matter of urgency, to report any suspected cases.
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