The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says it is dispatching a team of health personnel to the Upper West Region, to vaccinate people against another strain of meningitis known as Neisseria meningitis.
Neisseria meningitis is spread through saliva and respiratory secretions during coughing, sneezing, kissing amongst others.
This especially includes young children and their child care-givers or nursery-school contacts, as well as anyone who had direct exposure to a patient through kissing, sharing utensils, or medical interventions such as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
It initially produces general symptoms like fatigue, fever, and headache and can rapidly progress to neck stiffness, coma and death in 10% of cases.
Different types of meningitis, including Pneumococcal meningitis, have claimed close to one hundred lives in nine regions of the country; but the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Appiah Denkyira told Citi News Neisseria meningitis can be easily controlled with vaccines to prevent an epidemic.
“In 1996, that is what caused the epidemic. Neisseria is the one that causes a lot of epidemic and it’s been suppressed; but in the Upper West Region, that is what is high there and that is why we are going to use the vaccines.”
Dr. Appiah Denkyira said even though other strain meningitis has claimed more lives, the number of recorded cases is expected to reduce completely when regular rainfall starts.
“All meningitis cases are fatal so every dry season you’ll see meningitis in Ghana across the regions according to records; but if it not controlled fast, then it becomes a big epidemic. Neisseria can be prevented with vaccines but pneumococcal has no vaccines so it is only treatment.”
Personnel from the GHS will carry out an immunization exercise in the Upper West Region next week.
“Once we do immunization, then everything subsides because Neisseria is very sensitive to immunization. The World Health Organization (WHO) has given the vaccines and our health personnel are doing the preparation so next week they will move there to vaccinate all the people so it doesn’t spread” Dr. Appiah Denkyira concluded.
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By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com