The Medical Superintendent at the facility Dr William Gudu, who confirmed this to Citi News, however, allayed fears of a possible outbreak, stressing that adequate measures are being put in place to contain such a situation.

Dr. Gudu said the Bongo District recorded its first case of meningitis this year on January 4, with the patient passing away while receiving treatment.

“Unfortunately, the victim (name withheld) died within 3-4 hours of treatment. Though gram staining tests conducted at the facility proved positive for Neisseria meningitidis, further tests done through Lattes Agglutination at the major health referral hospital were negative,” he said.

“The fact is that Bongo as a facility lacks the Lattes Agglutination which is a test used to confirm meningitis. So at the district level what is done is gram straining. The gram straining is also capable of disclosing the kind of bacteria causing meningitis”.

“Also on the 6th of January, the facility recorded yet another four suspected cases, with victims showing symptoms of meningitis, which include fever, headache and neck pains. One died on the day of reporting and out of the four, two were diagnosed with meningitis, with the other two testing positive for diplococcus. Meanwhile, all five cases sent to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital for Lattes Agglutination tests for Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM came out negative.”

Dr. Gudu said his office is on high alert and advised residents to prioritize the washing of their hands with soap and also avoid going to crowded places, especially public functions.

Education is being done at the Outpatients Department, with ongoing public sensitization at the district level by the District Health Management Team.

Dr. Gudu allayed fears of any outbreak and advised persons with symptoms of the disease to report early at any nearby facility for prompt attention.

Late last year, three Senior High School Students from Bawku Secondary Technical, Tempane and the Zuarungu High schools died of meningitis while several others were hospitalised.

Cases of meningitis and influenza were also recorded at a number of other Senior High Schools in the country including Koforidua Secondary Technical School, where one student was confirmed to have died from the disease.

Four students from the Kumasi Academy also died with over a hundred others hospitalised after contracting the pandemic strain of H1N1 influenza type A, also known as Swine Flu

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The newsletter, which was signed by the headmaster of the school, D. Tetteh Kwao, said the move was aimed at preventing meningitis and other public health-related diseases.

Although government is strictly against the payment of extra fees by students particularly due to the implementation of the Free SHS programme, the headmaster noted that the decision had been approved by the Ghana Education Service.

The letter, dated December 20, 2017, said, “the approval has been given by Ghana Education Service for the students to make payment in respect of meningitis and public health-related disease prevention as discussed at our PTA meetings in the second term of the year.”

“Meningitis and Public Health related disease prevention GH¢75.00….The meningitis menace is fast spreading among schools in the country. Recently, it has taken lives of students in Kumasi Academy and it is moving Southwards,” it said.

Most Senior High Schools in the country have been on high alert following the deaths of students in various schools across the country from meningitis.

Although the Ghana Health Service has said that the deaths cannot be described as an outbreak but isolated cases, the death toll is 6, leaving some parents in fear.

Meningitis scare in Ghana

A student of Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region, three weeks ago died of non-communicable meningitis. Another student from Koforidua Technical School, also died from the disease.

Three deaths were recorded in three Senior High Schools in the Upper East Region, and another at Asamankese SHS in the Eastern Region.

It must be noted that no meningitis-related death has occured at Kumasi Academy as stated by authorities at Manya Krobo SHS. In the case of Kumasi Academy, the four deaths have been linked to the H1N1 Influenza.

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Prisons in the Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions are among those advised to be on guard.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Swxdgl4LYuTTPFwlRRd0p8y53t3wC4nl”]The Public Relations Officer of the Prisons Service, SP Vitalis Aye, told Citi News that the alert was issued to avert a meningitis disaster  considering that the infection emerges and spreads fast during the harmattan season.

He however said the service is taking steps to reduce incidents of the disease should they record any in the prisons.

Congestion and heat are some of the major factors that trigger meningitis.

“We issued an alert that around this time of the year, these things do happen. We have always put measures in place to make sure that though we are overcrowded, we minimize the rate of people getting infected or having a disaster,” he said.

“We ensure that those who visit as much as possible, physical contact is minimized. Again, we create isolation cells, if you are coming to the prisons for the first time, we put you there, we isolate you, we observe you before you are put in the main prison.  Those who are already inside the prisons, if they are showing signs that are not normal, they are isolated. We go through these protocols to ensure that we don’t have an outbreak, and even if it is there, it is minimized,” he added.

There have been about six deaths resulting from meningitis in the country in the last one month, but these incidents are being considered as isolated.

A student of Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region, three weeks ago died of non-communicable meningitis. Another student from Koforidua Technical School, also died from the disease.

Three deaths were recorded in three Senior High Schools in the Upper East Region, and another at Asamankese SHS in the Eastern Region.

No meningitis outbreak in Ghana

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has refuted claims that there is a meningitis outbreak in the country.

According to the Service, the deaths of some students from meningitis in recent weeks are isolated cases that do not constitute an outbreak.

The Director for Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie said in a Citi News that “for meningitis, we have not reached the situation to apply the vaccine. We have the vaccine, but to give it, we have to declare an outbreak first. There is a criterion for outbreak declaration and we haven’t reached there yet.”

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According to the Service, these persons did not show any symptoms of the contagious disease hence their discharge.

A 17-year- old student of the Asamankese Senior High School (SHS) died from meningitis a few days ago.

[contextly_sidebar id=”CGoHZqtYBeXv8TgGcKlUhMfsCoNHkvQn”]The death brought to six, the number of meningitis-related deaths among students nationwide.

The student died after complaining of a stiff neck, fever and body pains.

Speaking to Citi News, the Eastern Regional Disease Control Officer, Sally Emmanuel, said close relations of the deceased who were put under active surveillance are still being monitored.

“The said students were closely monitored and they have been doing so well. The same team that decided to keep them agreed that based on the observation so far they pose no more risk at this point in time, and so we can let them join their families as we think they are safe now. But after thorough talks with them the early signs and symptoms are just not going, they have been asked to link up with the nearest health facility within where they stay.”

Other cases 

The death at Asamankese was the latest in a string of deaths from meningitis in educational institutions across the country.

A preliminary report by a medical team at the Damongo District Hospital in the Northern Region this month, indicated that the death of a student at Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District, was caused by non-communicable meningitis.

The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Charity Sarpong, also confirmed that a second-year science student of Koforidua Technical School, died from Meningitis.

A student of Tempane Senior High School in the Garu-Tempane district of the Upper East Region, another from the Zuarungu SHS also in Upper East, and one from Bawku Sec. Tech. have also died from Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CMS).

Hundreds have also been hospitalised as a result of the disease.

These have raised concerns over a possible outbreak of the disease after a similar development at the Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region, although early medical reports indicate that the students were infected with H1N1 influenza Type A, after the death of four students.

The Ghana Health Service together with the World Health Organization, W.H.O, have procured and administered vaccines to students, teaching and non-teaching staff of the school.

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The death, which is the second in the Eastern Region after one at the Koforidua Secondary Technical School, brings to six the number of meningitis related deaths among students nationwide.

[contextly_sidebar id=”oDHLkQkJ8Eba4VHCk35VRTlWOsW6SJn7″]The student died after complaining of a stiff neck, fever and body pains on Sunday.

A Laboratory test conducted at the Asamankese Government Hospital confirmed he died as a result of meningitis.

The Eastern Regional Disease Control Officer, Sally Emmanuel, said all persons who came into contact with the deceased will remain under surveillance for a minimum of five days.

“As part of public health measures, we have identified people who are likely to have been infected because of their association. Currently, we are talking about records of about 65 people. Again, we are also ensuring that the person comes from a home and has visited home for sometime. Not just staff and students, but also the household where the person had visited was also reached and over there, we got people who were also close to the case and about six people are also under active surveillance to monitor them for a minimum of five days until we are sure they are not developing any symptoms of meningitis before we can let them go. ”

A preliminary report by a medical team at the Damongo District Hospital in the Northern  Region this month, indicated that the death of a student at Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District, was caused by non-communicable meningitis.

The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Charity Sarpong, also confirmed that a second-year science student of Koforidua Technical School, died from Meningitis.

A student of Tempane Senior High School in the Garu-Tempane district of the Upper East Region, and another from the Zuarungu SHS also in Upper East, and one from Bawku  Sec. Tech. have also died from Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CMS).

These have raised concerns over a possible outbreak of the disease after a similar development at the Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region, although early medical reports indicate that the students were infected with H1N1 influenza Type A, after the death of four students.

The Ghana Health Service together with the World Health Organization, W.H.O, has procured and administered vaccines to students, teaching and non-teaching staff.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The taskforce christened the “District epidemic preparedness team” is tasked to visit the dormitories and dining halls of all secondary schools in the district to ensure that there is proper ventilation.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”7iWCayD2yvW7GNzoIA9xAnZF4Uy0VTuY”]The taskforce includes health personnel from the district’s health directorate, assembly members and other major stakeholders from the education sector.

The Sagnarigu District Chief Executive, Mariam Iddrisu in a Citi News interview, described the epidemic as a human security threat, hence the move to curtail its widespread in the area.

“Basically, the district epidemic preparedness team is mandated to meet on a quarterly basis or during an outbreak or whenever there is a threat of an outbreak. And currently we have an outbreak following stories from other places.”

As the district that habours the Northern Region’s education ridge enclave, she called for a multifaceted approach in tackling the situation in Saagnarigu.

“We brought ourselves together to discuss and also adopt strategies that we can put in place to ensure that the district is not hard hit by the meningitis outbreak.”

“We agreed that there was the need to carry out health education in all the secondary schools within the district. And then again we also saw that there is the need to alert all hospitals within the district to be in readiness for early treatment so that even if we get an outbreak or a case we will not record deaths. ”

Mariam Iddrisu emphasized that, “As the District Chief Executive I think that the lives of the people are my responsibility so if we can avoid or prevent deaths from early treatment it becomes necessary to alert all hospitals to be in readiness.”

“We also saw the need to alert members of the surveillance team to look out for certain signs and symptoms in their catchment areas.”

The Sagnarigu District Chief Executive disclosed her administration’s preparedness to build sick bays in all second cycle institutions in the district to guarantee the students health.

According to her, the district has enough vaccines to cater for victims of meningitis in case of any outbreak.

Tamale Senior High School (Tamasco), Northern School of Business (NOBISCO), Business Secondary School (BISCO), Tamale Islamic Senior High School as well as tertiary institutions such as the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale City campus, Tamale Technical University, Bagabaga and Tamale Colleges of Education and the Northern Regional Education Directorate are in the Sagnarigu district.

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The student reported to the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital earlier this week in critical condition.

[contextly_sidebar id=”QlL2QqUqrwHJ0eJowm1zsX2Bcn2dilv6″]His death brings to two, the number of students who have died from the condition in the Region within this week.

On Wednesday, a 19-year-old Bawku Secondary Technical School student also died from CSM.

Confirming the death of the Tempane SHS student to Citi News, the Medical Director of the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Clement Oppong, said the condition can better be managed if those affected seek early treatment.

“So far we have a lot of students coming in, but we were able to confirm only 2 meningitis cases and unfortunately we lost both of them. One is from the Bawku Secondary Technical and the other one is from Tempane Secondary School. We received about 10 students, the 8 of them, we couldn’t confirm meningitis, in fact, some of them were discharged on Friday.”

“For now, the season for meningitis, we are already in it, the heat and all. We have to be on the lookout for signs and symptoms, anybody with a fever, headache, neck pains have to report to the hospital as early as possible for us to examine the person and do the necessary investigation. Meningitis is not a condition that kills automatically unless you report late. Those who report early are likely to survive,” he said.

Meningitis in SHSs

There appears to be an outbreak of meningitis in some Senior High Schools in the country.

The development comes after an outbreak of H1N1 influenza type A at the Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region, where four students have been confirmed dead.

A preliminary report by a medical team at the Damongo District Hospital earlier this week, indicated that the death of a student at Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region, was caused by non-communicable meningitis.

The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Charity Sarpong, also this week confirmed that, a second-year science student of Koforidua Technical School SECTECH, who passed away over the weekend, died from Meningitis.

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By: Fred Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Vaccines for the swine flu are also expected in the country on Saturday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZSHPPWlWhIrNMtttLQ9yRIPhwatD4Xf2″]This is according to a Ghana Education Service (GES) statement issued after a meeting with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The drug, Tamiflu, was given to tens of thousands of people during the swine flu pandemic in 2009.

The disease has been detected in at least a dozen students of Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region, where four students are suspected to have died from it.

The school’s students and staff were administered some other antiviral agents, and the school was also fumigated, following the detection of the swine flu.

According to the GES statement, “arrangements have been made to procure and airlift antiviral agent, Tamiflu, and vaccines for use.

Tamiflu is expected in the country by 15^th December, 2017 [today] and the vaccines by 16^th December 2017.”

The statement also noted that, the Ministry of Health has “sent alerts to all the regions, districts and facilities, to enhance surveillance and strengthen systems for prevention, early detection and timely responses.”

“The situation is under control, and there have not been any new reported cases,” the GES further assured.

Aside from the suspected outbreak of swine flu at Kumasi Academy, a death from meningitis was recorded at the Koforidua Secondary Technical School in the Eastern Region.

Other meningitis deaths were noted at the Damango Senior High School in the Northern Region from meningitis, and the Bawku Secondary Technical School.

For the cases of suspected meningitis, the GES said it was “awaiting the medical report from the Ghana Health Service, including their recommendations on the way forward, and will update the public accordingly upon receipt.”

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Dr. Ibrahim M. Gunu, in a Citi News interview, bemoaned the recent health situation that has so far killed some students and hospitalized several others.

[contextly_sidebar id=”o5gfEAYhcZrSsE9lWIZMJ1R309AUhtqY”]He emphasized the need for government to tackle the outbreak as a national issue, saying, “the recent happenings in our schools have exposed the deficiencies regarding student health management services, so government should consider this suggestion seriously for the state schools to have resident nurses.”

“It should also be made as a requirement for private schools as part of the accreditation or approval processes.”

He also underscored the need to create what he described as the school nurse system as a means of recruiting some of the graduate unemployed nurses to serve in all public Senior High Schools.

“This system would require that a nurse is assigned to a number of schools in a specific location. The nurses using their clinical knowledge and judgment, should be able to provide healthcare to students and staff, perform health screenings and together with the school counselor provide counselling and education to staff and students.”

“These nurses should be made to provide daily reports to the specialist in the various district and regional hospitals for immediate action.  This kind of inter-agency collaboration would enable various governmental agencies to work together for the good of the students. Strengths of inter-agency working are that there is a wide range of skills, perspectives and knowledge to bring to bear on problems in our schools.”

Dr. Ibrahim M. Gunu further condemned all attempts to politicize the tragedy that had befallen the schools.

“It would also be important for me to appeal to politicians to stop politicizing this issue and attributing the menace to political figures in Ghana. We are a serious nation, so politicians must take the citizenry seriously,” he said.

Meningitis scare in SHSs

One student at Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region was confirmed to have died from a case of Meningitis.

Meningitis was also found to be the cause of the death of a 19-year old student of Bawku Secondary Technical Institute in the Upper East Region, and a second-year science student at Koforidua Technical School.

In some of the schools, several other students have been hospitalized as a result of the conditions

This comes on the back of the deaths of four students of Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region.

The pandemic strain of influenza type A, H1N1 2009, also known as Swine Flu, was detected in some students of the school, and is believed to be related to the deaths.

Aside from the four deaths, other students have also been hospitalized.

However, health officials in both the Ashanti Region and the Eastern Regions, have insisted that they have contained the situation in the schools, and have assured the public of their commitment to ensuring the safety of students.

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In its first comments on the escalating health concerns in the senior high schools, the Association also called for better links between schools and health facilities.

[contextly_sidebar id=”VV2BB9lrtiLKQjziFTbD495xAmF24tgq”]”We reiterate our previous call to the government for the setting up of at least 2 national infectious disease centres – one in the southern sector, and the other in the northern sector to facilitate prompt diagnosis, service delivery, research and teaching.”

“The linkage of the school health system to specified facilities must be strengthened, the statement added.

SHS deaths

The diseases that have been noted in afflicted senior high schools so far are meningitis and the H1N1 pandemic strain of Influenza, also known as swine flu.

The deaths have occurred in both in the northern and southern zone of the country, starting with the suspected outbreak of swine flu at Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region where four students died.

This was followed by another death at the Koforidua Secondary Technical School in the Eastern Region, and another at the Damango Senior High School in the Northern Region from meningitis.

Health officials in the Ashanti Region and the Eastern Regions have since said they have contained the spread of the various diseases.

The latest death has been recorded at the Bawku Secondary Technical School, also from meningitis.

A final year student of the Kpone Community Senior High School in the Kpone-Katamanso District of the Greater Accra Region has also been reported dead but the cause is unconfirmed.

Protocols for emergencies

The Association expressed further concern with the country’s emergency preparedness, and noted that, “the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment and other medical logistics needs to be improved.”

Of concern to the GMA is also the public engagement on the various outbreaks, which it said must adhere to protocols so as to avoid fueling panic.

“Politicians and the media should be circumspect in the handling of technical issues and allow professionals to, as much as possible, handle such matters. The communication of conflicting positions during such emergencies fuels panic and unnecessary anxiety in the public, and this hampers scientific work.”

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