Meningitis scare hits Navrongo SHS as one student dies, another on admission

A suspected case of meningitis has left at least one second-year student of the Navrongo Senior High School in the Kasena/Nankana East Assembly dead and one more student on admission at the War Memorial Hospital.

According to a top member of the school management who spoke on grounds of anonymity, Abass Ibrahim, the form two home economics student, died at his home in Bongo, Sunday and his death was only reported to school authority Monday morning by a relative.

The top management member explained that the deceased who complained of symptoms synonymous to meningitis the previous week after taking part in inter-house sports activities was rushed at dawn of Tuesday by his housemaster to the War Memorial Hospital for treatment when his health deteriorated.

She continued:“the student responded to treatment initially and was discharged from the War Memorial Hospital. He, however, died at home, after his parents read "spiritual meanings" into his ill health and took him away from the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital where he had been re-admitted for further treatment, against the orders of management of the regional hospital".

The management of the school is yet to make an official comment on the issue. However, education on symptoms, detection and preventive measures against the membrane inflammatory disease, according to the top management member, has been given to students by the municipal health directorate.

Meanwhile, confirmed information gathered from the War Memorial Hospital identified meningitis as the cause of ill health of the one more student on admission. Tests have been run on him and she is being treated at the hospital.

Other students of the school in their multitude had also thronged the premises of the emergency ward of the hospital with traces of the symptoms when Atinka News' Senyalah Castro Cazo visited.

The top management member of the school is calling on the government and the Ghana Health Service to as a matter of urgency act to help control the situation from going from bad to worst. She also appealed to parents to desist from collecting their wards from the school campus.

Students were also urged at the school's Monday morning assemble to stay calm and return back to campus.

Meningitis related developments at some senior high schools in the region recently have led to loss of lives of students. Cases of the disease were recently recorded at Tempane Senior High School and the Bawku Senior High Technical School.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes (meninges) surrounding your brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include headache, fever and a stiff neck.