THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said Cerebrospinal Meningitis killed 118 persons in Nigeria in the last six months.
The NCDC disclosed this through its official Twitter handle on Sunday, April 23.
The Centre said that between October 2022 and April 2, about 235 confirmed cases had been reported, with 118 deaths from 22 states and 79 local government areas (LGAs).
The public health institute expressed worries that the disease killed 23 persons in one week between March 27 and April 2.
The deaths were reported from two states, Jigawa (6) and Yobe (17).
Additional information on NCDC’s website added that the national multi-sectoral Cerebrospinal Meningitis Technical Working Group (TWG) persist in monitoring response to the disease across states.
“As of April 2, a total of 1,479 suspected cases, including 118 deaths (Case Fatality Ratio, CFR 9.3 per cent), were reported from 22 states in 2022/2023 Cerebrospinal Meningitis seasons.
“Age group 5-14 years was the most affected age group; males were 57 per cent, females were 43 per cent.
About “93 per cent of all cumulative cases were from five states: Jigawa (1064 cases), Yobe (234 cases), Zamfara (36 cases), Bauchi (23 cases) and Adamawa (21 cases),” the NCDC said.
In 2022, the NCDC disclosed that Meningitis killed 56 persons in Nigeria between January and October 5.
In a statement, the Centre said the deaths occurred from 961 suspected cases.
The Centre said the suspected cases and deaths were logged from 159 local government areas in 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) is an epidemic-prone disease with cases reported annually in Nigeria.
The highest burden occurs in Africa’s ‘Meningitis Belt’, south of the Sahara Desert.
In Nigeria, the belt includes all 19 northern states, the FCT and some southern states.
The bacteria that causes Meningitis is transmitted from person to person through carriers’ droplets of respiratory or throat secretions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined Meningitis as a severe infection of the meninges, the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
Anyone of any age can be affected, but particularly infants, young children, and of preschool age.
The early symptoms can take several hours or several days. A sudden high fever, stiff neck, excruciating headache, nausea, and vomiting are a few examples.
In some situations, such as Meningococcal Meningitis, it may also cause disorientation or difficulty concentrating, seizures, tiredness or difficulty waking up, sensitivity to light, lack of appetite or thirst, and skin rash.
A reporter with the ICIR
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