Cerebrospinal Meningitis infections low despite high temperatures – GHS

Ghana did not experience an outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in prone areas from October last year to March this year.

Despite the high temperatures recorded in the Meningitis belt: Northern, North-East, Savannah, Upper-East, Upper-West, Bono, and Oti regions, the number of cases recorded did not cross the disease outbreak threshold.

Director for Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Frankline Asiedu-Bekoe, said as of the end of March 2024, a total of 120 CSM cases with 12 deaths were recorded.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that although parts of Ghana were endemic to CSM, recording some CSM cases did not mean there was an outbreak.

Dr Asiedu-Bekoe- Bekoe said no cases of CSM had been recorded in the last two weeks through the GHS weekly monitoring.

He advised persons in the meningitis belt to avoid overcrowding, particularly avoiding infected persons sneezing, and coughing, drink a lot of water, stay at places with improved ventilation, and report to the nearest health facility with fever, headache, and neck pain.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the covering of the brain and spinal cord.

It is most often caused by a viral, fungal, or bacterial infection.

Bacterial meningitis is caused by several bacterial pathogens but Neisseria meningitidis (Nm), Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae type B represent the triad causing over 80 percent of all cases of bacterial meningitis.

Signs and symptoms of Meningitis are neck pains, neck stiffness, convulsions, confusion, and a bulging anterior fontanelle for children under one year.