Delta Confirms Suspected Meningitis

The Delta State Government has dispelled a rumour of an alleged outbreak of the cere-brospinal meningitis in some parts of the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Azinge, told newsmen on Thursday in Asaba, that  the report of an outbreak of the disease in the state was false, but, however confirmed three suspected cases.
“There is no outbreak of meningitis in Delta State as alleged by some media report; what we have is just three cases of suspected cerebral meningitis and that cannot be said to be an outbreak.
“Going by the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard, there can only be an outbreak of a disease when there is a record of five cases in every one hundred thousand people within a week,” Azinge said.
The commissioner said that the three suspected cases are two at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba and one at the Central Hospital, Warri.
He said, “of the two suspected cases at the FMC, Asaba, one has been confirmed as caused by Neisseria meningitidis, the organism that is associated with meningitis outbreaks.
“The second case is yet to be confirmed because of certain complications the patient has.”
According to Azinge, the case in Warri was confirmed to have been caused by Streptococcus pneumonia, the organism hardly associated with outbreaks.
He said the patients in the unconfirmed cases in Asaba and in Warri responded satisfactorily to treatment and have since been discharged and gone home.
The commissioner noted that currently, there was only one case of the suspected disease, which he said was being managed at the FMC, Asaba.