WHO team in Ghana to study CSM outbreak

Accra, March 12, GNA - A team from World Health Organisation(WHO) is in the country to assess the outbreak of Cerebro- Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, Minister of Health (MOH) made this known on Thursday when answering an urgent question by Dr Mathew Prempeh, Member of Parliament for Manhyia on the floor of Parliament. He said mass vaccination against CSM was ongoing, explaining that the situation was getting stabilised.

Dr Mathew Prempeh asked about the measures the MOH was taking to prevent the perennial deaths caused by CSM in the three regions. Dr Kunbuor said the Ministry had taken measures to manage the perennial epidemics and deaths in the regions including, selective preventive vaccination. He said although WHO does not recommend preventive vaccine, the MOH each year procured reasonable quantities of the A and C vaccines for communities at high risk in the belt.

Dr Kunbuor said this year the ministry acquired 380,000 of the vaccines for the three regions. He noted that surveillance for early detection of cases for effective preventive measures has been institutionalised.

Dr Kunbuor said there was no evidence of the disease in the Ashanti Region, but the ministry would cross check and intervene should there be any report. He said laboratory validation was necessary to establish whether a person suffering from disease was a CSM patient. Dr Kunbuor urged parliament to take a look at the various measures that could be adopted to prevent the occurrence of the disease.

Mr Ambrose Dery, member for Lawra Nandom asked why only 20,000 people were vaccinated in the area with a population of 120,000 people. Dr Kunbuor said the District Directorate did an assessment of the situation and noticed that the area had not yet reach the alert level. He explained that CSM is an inflammation of the covering of the brain and the spinal cord.

The commonest cause is a bacteria called Neiseria Meningitides. The bacteria have nine sero-groups, namely A, B, C, D, E29, X, W135, Y and Z. The bacteria normally reside in the nose and throat but sometimes invade the blood system causing the disease, which then spread by direct contact including respiratory droplets from nose and throat of infected persons or carriers.