Poor sanitation, overcrowding push meningitis deaths to 55 in Kebbi

Deaths from the outbreak of meningitis in Jega, Gwandu, Aliero, Bunza and Birnin Kebbi local government areas of Kebbi State on Wednesday hit 55, according to a senior government official. Last week, the state government had announced 26 deaths from three of the local government areas from suspected cases of the disease but confirmed its […]

Deaths from the outbreak of meningitis in Jega, Gwandu, Aliero, Bunza and Birnin Kebbi local government areas of Kebbi State on Wednesday hit 55, according to a senior government official.

Last week, the state government had announced 26 deaths from three of the local government areas from suspected cases of the disease but confirmed its outbreak on Wednesday when results from the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja confirmed some samples sent from the state to be Meningitis.

Breaking down the death figures, the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr Nuhu Koko, said 25 people had died in Gwandu, the most hit local government area, 16 from Jega and 14 from Aliero.

Daily Trust correspondent reports that initially the deaths were said to be caused by malaria as victims were not reporting cases to health facilities for proper diagnosis.

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But later reports received by the Public Health department said people were dying from symptoms of fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and associated vomiting and dizziness.

A family member of two affected persons in Jega, Jafaru Abubakar, told our correspondent that when the disease broke out in some communities in the area, it was being considered as a strange ailment which killed people in a short time.

“We didn’t know it was CSM, but what surprised us is that some of the people who suffered from the disease that looks like fever died suddenly. We also observed that some strange things happened to them before they died. Some had stiff necks while others were vomiting excessively. Like the case of the two people that were affected in our community, they suffered stiffness in their necks,” he said.

Dr Koko said as of Wednesday, this week, 653 suspected cases of the disease had been recorded in five of the state’s local government councils.

“From the samples sent and confirmation received from the reference centre we now know we are dealing with cases of meningitis. Seventeen samples were sent to the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja for confirmation out of which five sample results returned negative and five were positive,” he said.

While addressing journalists in Birnin Kebbi on updates of measures taken by the government to tackle the disease, Dr Koko attributed the deaths recorded to self-medication. He said the figures were recorded because the affected persons did not go to the hospital for proper diagnosis to know what they were suffering from. He said it was too late for some of the victims by the time they got to the hospital because of the complications it had already caused them.

Saa’du Yahaya, a resident of Aliero, one of the most hit local governments in the state, said his younger sister was infected with CSM but she was lucky to survive it because she was taken to the general hospital in Aliero in time where she was treated of the disease.

“I think she was lucky to survive it because we took her to the hospital in time. We really didn’t know she was suffering from meningitis but we saw that her sickness was becoming severe and worsening within two days. We had to rush her to the hospital. We were shocked to discover she was infected with meningitis and had to be kept in the isolation centre. We thank God she has been discharged,” Yahaya said.

Five students of the state’s University of Science and Technology, Aliero, including two in their final year were also reported to have died from the disease.

Officials attributed the outbreak at the university to overcrowding and poor sanitation in the institution. However, the school’s authority said they would not close down the institution so as to prevent those students that might have been infected from transmitting it to other members of the public. Instead, it said it has converted the school clinic to an isolation centre to take care of the victims.

Dr Koko said the Ministry of Health has begun an advocacy visit to stakeholders in the state and partners such as WHO, MSF, UNICEF for detailed outbreak investigation. It has also started distributing drugs and other commodities to the affected local government areas.

“Also sample collection, training of clinicians across the affected local government areas have begun in partnership with WHO and other non-governmental organisations, in Gwandu, Jega and Aliero,” he said. 

He said Governor Nasir Idris has also approved the immediate release of N30 million to support the outbreak intervention activities which include procurement of emergency drugs, surveillance activities, setting up of isolation centers, case management of infected persons, vaccination campaign as well as sensitisation and public enlightenment campaign.

He explained that the state has received 3,000 doses of CSM vaccines from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare which have been distributed across the affected communities in the three local governments areas.

Dr Koko added all the five positive case patients had been treated and discharged while the state is still awaiting seven sample results from the National Reference Centre in Abuja.

Kebbi State has experienced seasonal outbreaks of cerebro-spinal meningitis since 2015 with a massive outbreak affecting 16 local governments councils. Aliero Local Government Area recorded about half of the cases of meningitis in the state.

The Chief Consultant on Epidemiology at the Federal Teaching Hospital Birnin Kebbi, Dr Umar Kangiwa, said in order to reduce the seasonal outbreak of the disease government must take all preventive measures and make sure that it enlightened the general population on the symptoms and how to prevent its spread.  He said government also needs experts to identify suspected cases and diagnose to confirm all suspected cases.

“Everybody within the chain, nurses, community health workers, health personnel and others should be well equipped on the signs and symptoms of meningitis,” he said.

The chief consultant also maintained that the disease has economic implications as such people should be enlightened on its implications because it can cause blindness, deafness and can affect the pancreas of an infected person. He said when all these are done, the outbreak of meningitis will reduce drastically.

Meanwhile, the state government has advised members of the public to immediately report to the nearest health facility once a person shows any sign of the disease, avoid sleeping in overcrowded spaces with poor ventilation, maintain proper personal hygiene and maintain proper environmental sanitation.

It also warned the public against visiting patients at the isolation centres and avoid self-medication, ensure proper food hygiene, particularly washing of fruits and vegetables before consumption. It enjoined those not affected to present themselves for vaccination at the designated centres.