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Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, the Deputy Director and Head of Surveillance of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has said there has not been an outbreak of meningitis in Ashanti Region.

He explained that to declare an outbreak of a disease, there must be at least 10 reported cases in a week per every 100,000 population, therefore, the situation currently in the region could not be referred to as an outbreak.

According to him, the Region has currently recorded seven cases, which were not different from the numbers recorded in 2015, and these were sporadic cases and from six districts including: Ejisu Juabeng, Offinso Municipal, Offinso North, Asante Akim Central, and Adansi South.

Dr Asiedu-Bekoe, who was addressing a media conference, in Accra, on the meningitis situation in the country, said the disease presented itself in the form of fever, persistent headache, stiff neck and altered consciousness.

He, however, said the organisms isolated in the reported cases in the Ashanti region, were actually Neisseria meningitis type C, which was very different from Pneumococcal Meningitis, which meant the strains of organisms had changed.

Dr Asiedu-Bekoe called on the public to report cases on time, saying, “It takes about 10 to 14 days to effectively treat these cases of meningitis, but early diagnosis is the key to saving lives.”

He described meningitis as an inflammation of the meninges, the covering of the brain and spinal cord, which could often result from viral, fungal or bacterial infections.

The bacterial meningitis, he said, was caused by several pathogens, but Neisseria meningitides, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophile influenza type B represented the triad, causing more than 80 per cent of all cases of bacterial meningitis.

Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said the outbreaks due to meningococcal meningitis remained a major public health challenge in the meningitis belt, which were the three northern regions, but a successful mass preventive immunisation campaign in 2012 to address the burden of Group A meninigococcus, which accounted for an estimated 80 per cent to 85 per cent of all cases in the belt has led to a reduction in reported cases.

However, he said, the introduction of the Meningitis vaccine (MenAfriVac), climate change with subsequent extension of drought areas, increased mobility of the population, and the introduction of new strains of organisms into susceptible populations were accounting for the change in epidemiology of the meningitis and the way it was occurring and spreading.

He said so far there has been reported cases of meningitis in seven districts in Brong Ahafo and in some districts of the Northern region, with the highest caseloads being in Wenchi, Tain, Techiman Municipal and Techiman North.

In total, there has been 153 reported cases in the Brong Ahafo Region with 33 deaths, but these may change with time, he explained, because the figures were based on retrospective and new cases.

Besides, there were also cases in the total number, which actually tested negative for meningitis and thus remain as suspected cases.

He said cases in the Bole District had reduced remarkably, while districts in the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions were on high alert.

The National and Regional response had been good in the area of community and facility surveillance as well as case management, but there was a challenge of inadequate laboratory support.

Dr Victor Asare Bampoe, the Deputy Minister of Health, said in spite of the challenges and the current geographical shift in the organism, the situation was being brought under control through the numerous interventions put in place.

He gave the assurance that with the cooperation of the public, the Ministry, Ghana Health Service and other partners would do their best to prevent an outbreak.