A total of 18 cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) have been recorded in the Upper West Region. with four deaths from January to February 2024.
Of that number, the Wa Municipal recorded six cases; Wa West District four cases; Nandom Municipality, four Jirapa Municipality, three and Nadowli-Kaleo District one confirmed case.
Dr Collins Boateng Danquah, the Deputy Upper West Regional Health Director in charge of Public Health, revealed the statistics to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Wa, on Wednesday.
“This is just the beginning because we have not gotten to the very hot season or condition that will be coming out in the months of March and April,” he said.
Dr Danquah also observed that: “If we’ve not gotten there and we’ve gotten 18 confirmed cases and four people dying from the CSM, it should be a source of concern and people should take the necessary precautionary measures against the disease.”
He said the outbreak of CSM was associated with excessive heat and CSM pathogens infected dust.
He stressed the need for people to strictly adhere to the preventive measures, which include sleeping in well-ventilated rooms, avoiding overcrowding, staying indoors to avoid the scorching sun, wearing nose masks when in dusty areas such as market centres or when riding, especially on dusty roads and increasing their water intake to help avoid contracting the disease.
He explained that children and elderly people above 60 years old were most vulnerable to the CSM disease because their immune systems were not strong enough making them susceptible to the disease.
He, therefore, reiterated the need to limit outdoor activities for school children and the elderly so they did not fall victim to the disease.
Dr Danquah indicated that the GHS was doing surveillance of the disease for early detection of suspected cases, testing and treatment.
He, thus, advised the public to report to the health facility when they experienced the symptoms of CSM for their samples to be taken and tested.
They included hot temperature, fever, headache; stiffness of the neck, convulsions and sometimes vomiting among others.
GNA