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Demdem: Actually, the sacking ought to have commenced from both the Petroleum minister and the finance minister. Both are culpable.

This low-level ACN apologist from okoroland

Meningitis on the rise
By Rita Ohai 45 minutes ago
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•Anas-Mustapha one of the children given experimental drug, Trovan •Anas-Mustapha one of the children given experimental drug, Trovan



WITH cases of deaths stemming from meningitis on the increase around the country, health officials have begun raising the alarm on the impending catastrophe if the situation goes unchecked.

In the last four weeks, a total of 14 cases, nine admissions and three deaths had been discovered, says the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care (NPHC) Development Agency, Ado Mohammed, at a media briefing in Abuja.

This figure, however, does not include a newly reported outbreak of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis (CSM) which has infected 24 others in Adamawa State with more than seven people declared dead from the disease.

According to another director in the city primary healthcare department, Malam Muhammad Iya-Hammawa, “So far the Local Government Healthcare Department has reports of 10 cases of meningitis from the Federal Medical Centre, Jos, out of which two deaths were recorded. The affected areas included Damare, Jambutu and Wuro Hausa wards.”

Although the Executive Director, NPHC Development Agency had, in his briefing, assured Nigerians that the agency was stepping up efforts to combat the reported cases of outbreak of meningitis in parts of the country, Iya-Hammawa revealed that “the health department needed about 250,000 dosages of vaccines to immunise the people in the area and that the Hepatitis B Virus and yellow fever vaccines were in short supply in the area, making it difficult to carry out immunisation.”

Dr. Seun Braimoh of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital shed light on the nature of the deadly disease: ”Meningitis is a contagious infection that occurs when the thin lining that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord is crossed by the micro-organism. This often leads to the inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and can be caused by viral or bacterial infections.”

Explaining its mode of infection, he said, “The organism is transmitted from person-to-person through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions from carriers. It spreads mainly through kisses, sneezes, coughs and in close living quarters or sharing eating utensils, a toothbrush or a cigarette. You're also at increased risk if you work with someone who has the disease.”

Giving insight to some of the indicative symptoms, Dr Eunice Alegbe of Health Sinai Diagnostic Clinic narrated, “Meningitis is such a dangerous diseases that once a person is infected, the patient will notice a difference in the way he or she feels. Usually, the most common symptoms of meningitis are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, vomiting, and an inability to tolerate light or loud noises. Sometimes, especially in small children, you may have cases of irritability and drowsiness. If a rash is present, it may indicate a particular cause of meningitis; for instance, meningitis caused by meningococcal bacteria may be accompanied by a characteristic rash.”

Highlighting one of the reasons why the spread of the disease is rapid in parts of Nigeria, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) posits, “Basic healthcare is limited in rural parts of Nigeria, where most people live on less than N300 a day, despite the country's huge oil resources.”

The increase in reported cases generally begins around the start of the year and peaks in the February to April dry season because of dust, winds and cold nights, before dipping around May when the rains come.

In a 2009 report, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health recorded 23,528 suspected cases of meningococcal disease, including 1131 deaths with sixty-six local government areas in Nigeria crossing the 'epidemic threshold'. The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the emergence of an epidemic in Nigeria and stepped up vaccinations and other management measures.

According to the governing health body, WHO, this disease was an epidemic in over 50 areas of the country. Stating that the outbreak of 2009 was bigger than usual, tagging it 'the worst known meningitis outbreak in Sub-Saharan Africa'.

In response to the distress call, WHO released 2.3 million doses of vaccines to Nigeria. Nearly 13 million doses were stockpiled and in 2011, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad launched a vaccination campaign for their citizens using a new vaccine, MenAfriVac, which was created to target the deadly Group A meningitis.

Parents and guardians have been advised to vaccinate their children since successful test trials of MenAfriVac have reportedly been conducted to prevent a reccurrence of the 1996 incident where 11 children died in a clinical trial in the northern state of Kano due to Pfizer (now Niemeth PLC), a Sam Ohuabunwa-led pharmaceutical company's decision to conduct tests of Trovan (trovafloxacin) and Ceftriaxone, both antibiotics, on 100 children. Many others were afflicted suffering blindness, deafness, and cognitive damage, life-altering injuries characteristic of meningitis.

The survivors of the trovafloxacin test attempted to bring a number of legal actions against Pfizer in the United States. These attempts resulted in a 15-year legal battle against Pfizer after which the parents of four Nigerian children who died of meningitis became the first set winners of over the fiercely controversial drug trial receiving about $175,000 (£108,000) each. The other families are yet to be compensated.

Since the disease is known to be potentially fatal, it should always be viewed as a medical emergency explains Dr. Braimoh.

Offering advice on treatment, he expresses, “Every patient that we receive with an illness of meningitis is classified as a high risk patient. A range of antibiotics can treat the infection but it is important to rush to the hospital as soon as possible to prevent the disease from worsening the internal state of a patients system.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/health/43885-meningitis-on-the-rise.html

lol@ topic. Yoruba littered with homeless beggars

Are the almajiris still there? Poverty wan kill awon omo Awo

They will soon join EFCC cell like Bode George and Erastus Akingbola