Death toll of meningitis outbreak in Ghana rises to 28

The death toll in the outbreak of pneumococcal meningitis in some parts of Ghana has risen to 28, health authorities announced on Friday.

Over 110 cases of the disease have been reported in seven districts of the Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions since October, last year, Dr Victor Bampoe, deputy Minister of Health confirmed to the media in Accra.

He said health authorities had intensified public education in the affected communities to curtail the situation and halt further spread of the condition.

Authorities have advised affected people to report early to a health facility on seeing any symptoms such as fever, body aches, headaches, loss of appetite and stiffness in the neck because it can significantly improve treatment outcome and chances for survival.

Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company in Ghana, Pharmanova, has donated over 2,000 vials of antibiotics to the health ministry to help fight the ongoing pneumococcal meningitis outbreak.

Meningitis is a serious and potentially fatal disease caused by different bacteria, the commonest of which are pneumococcal, neisseria, and haemophile influenza type B.

It is an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, and usually occurs during the dry season.

In Ghana, the worst outbreak of meningitis occurred in 1994 and 1996 which affected 17,000 people, leaving some 1,000 of them dead.