KUMACA deaths: Ministry of Health officials begin investigations

Officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) Disease Control and Monitoring Team from Accra have begun investigations into the mysterious deaths that hit Kumasi Academy last week, claiming three lives.

Deep throat sources at the school told this reporter that the MoH officials have been involved in series of meetings with the Municipal Chief Executive, Hon Alidu Seidu, and District Director of Education for Asokore Mampong to possibly have an idea of what could be killing the innocent children.

The outcome of that meeting has not been known, yet grapevine hints indicate that there is more to the cause of the strange deaths than meets the eye.

Between Thursday and Friday evening last week, three first-year students died strangely from diseases that are yet to be identified.

Even though some people are attributing the deaths to meningitis, medical authorities are yet to come out with the post mortem.

Two of the victims, both males, died on Thursday evening after having been rushed to the hospital over high temperature.

The third victim died on Friday at a separate hospital when he left the campus to seek medical attention at home; he is also reported to have died of high temperature.

Many were those expectant of hearing some information from the school’s authorities as the school celebrated its 60th anniversary on Saturday, a day after the last mysterious death.

As at Saturday when the school was celebrating its 60th anniversary, about 10 more students had been admitted at various hospitals receiving treatment for what was thought to be high temperature.

It will be recalled that similar deaths occurred earlier this year at the school which caused lots of fear and panic among not only the students but their parents and guardians as well.

The Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, in collaboration with the regional branch of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), announced that the deaths were due to an outbreak of meningitis in the school.

Following this, the Ghana Education Service and the school’s authorities came up with several measures which they said, would curb a future outbreak of the dreaded disease.

The deafening silence by the school’s authorities on the mysterious deaths has created some uneasiness among the students and the Parent Teachers Association of the school.