Meningitis: Health authorities confirm death of 2 students from Nyankomase SHS

Health authorities in the Central region have confirmed the death of two students from the Nyankomase Senior High School (SHS) in the Assin-South District following the outbreak of Meningitis in the area.

The Central Regional Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Kwamena Sarpong confirmed the deaths in a radio interview with Accra based Citi FM on Wednesday [February 19, 2020].

He said the authorities have intensified their surveillance in schools in the Central Region to help curb the spread of the disease.

According to him, the outbreak of the disease was detected in January 2020.

“On the 29th of January, we heard reports that three students from the school [Nyankomase SHS] had reported to the Cape Coast hospital for care, then that same day, we were told one of them had died, we met with the school authorities, we spoke to them about what we found, that one of the students is dead, and we took the opportunity to speak to them about meningitis, we screened them to see if we could get additional complaints of the symptoms so we can treat them but a week or two after we heard another student had died at Saint Francis-Xavier Hospital. We have heightened our surveillance in all the schools in Assin-Fosu particularly in the Assin-South area,” he said.

Meningitis is a rare infection or inflammation that affects the membranes (meninges) surrounding your brain and spinal cord. The swelling from meningitis typically triggers symptoms such as headache, fever and a stiff neck.

There are five types of meningitis — bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal, and non-infectious meningitis.