The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has revealed that another strain of meningitis has reared its head in the Upper West Region.
The new strain is known as Neisseria meningitis.
[contextly_sidebar id=”bu0sLnWmp1cpKPdLswuGimwB6SgFBckO”]Different types of meningitis, including Pneumococcal meningitis, claimed close to one hundred lives in nine regions of the country with the Pneumococcal meningitis strain alone infecting over five hundred people.
But the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Appiah Denkyira, has said the number of recorded cases for the pneumococcal meningitis is gradually reducing but cases of this different strain of meningitis, Neisseria meningitis, are being recorded.
He revealed that this new strain could be a potential epidemic saying, “In the Upper West Region, there has been an increase in the Neisseria type. The Neisseria is the one which usually causes the epidemic,” he warned.
Dr. Denkyira noted that some areas in the Northern Region are still recording the pneumococcal strain but the the number of cases has reduced and the fatalities have dropped.
According to him, when regular rainfall starts, the pneumococcal strain of meningitis will die off completely.
“The Damong North area is where we have the pneumococcal. That one has gone down. Its fatalities have gone down however we are still recording some cases. We know that the moment it rains, the whole thing will cut off.”
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana