Five meningitis patients healed

Five of the 13 suspected meningitis cases admitted to hospital in the Central Region have been discharged.

Eight others are responding to treatment at the Abura Dunkwa Government Hospital and the St Francis Xavier Hospital at Assin Fosu.

The Deputy Central Regional Director of Public Health, Dr Kwabena Sarpong, said all the cases were doing well and responding to treatment.

Meanwhile, he said, no new cases of the disease had been recorded.

"There have been no new cases today and that is good news," he said.

Background

Last week, there was an outbreak of meningitis in the Central Region which claimed the lives of two female students of the Nyankumasi Ahenkro Senior High School, while 13 suspected cases were quarantined for treatment.

Samples

Dr Sarpong said samples of suspected cases of the meningitis had been sent to the public health reference laboratory at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for confirmation or otherwise, and that the results were expected yesterday.

He, however, noted that although they were waiting for the results, all cases were being treated as meningitis, in the meantime.

"We are treating all the cases as meningitis for now while we wait for the results," he said.

Situation under control

Dr Sarpong reiterated the fact that the situation was under control, while sensitisation was ongoing in the communities.
He advised the public to adopt healthy practices to avoid contracting the disease.

About meningitis

Meningitis is an infectious disease of the central nervous system that causes inflammation of the meningeal membranes — three layers surrounding the brain and the spinal cord: the dura mater, arachnoid and pia mater.

The arachnoid and pia mater become inflamed and opaque, along with the first two layers of the cortex and the spinal cord.

Many complications can result from this inflammation, such as increased risk of tissues dying due to low blood supply to the area, leading to blockage of cerebral spinal fluid flow and other complications.

Meningitis is usually a result of fungi, viruses, parasites, bacteria or non-infectious inflammation. Viral (aseptic) and bacterial meningitis are the most common forms of acute meningitis.

Bacterial meningitis is the severer form, leading to numerous complications, and early treatment is key.