85 people die in Yobe in 4 months, more than 2,000 infected with meningitis
The Yobe State Government has announced that it has recorded 2,510 cases of type C encephalomingitis from December 25, 2023 to April 2024.
It added that 85 patients died from the disease before or before reaching a health facility.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Muhammad Lawan Gana, disclosed this while briefing reporters on the outbreak of the disease in the state.
“The total number of cases from that December until last week was 2,510, of which 85 people died, all 85 of whom died.The investigation found that they were either very slow in reporting to medical facilities or not at all. It turns out they either didn't report it or they didn't,” he said.
It added that the state recorded 28 new cases and one death in the past 24 hours.
“Only two deaths due to meningitis have been recorded in the past two weeks,” he said.
He said the measures taken against the outbreak of the disease in the province included the establishment of a temporary emergency operations center in Potiskum town, the epicenter of the disease, and the establishment of Potiskum Specialist Hospital for meningitis control. This includes designation as a tertiary vaccination center. More than 400,000 people in this region are infected with type C disease.
Other measures include deploying temporary staff, including infectious disease professors, to treat infectious diseases, undertaking active community awareness campaigns, and conducting daily review meetings with partners on the immediate situation. Examples include.
“The result of all these interventions is the fact that we are actually recording a reduction in the number of deaths,” he said.
However, Gana debunked reports circulating on social media, saying the state had recorded more than 200 deaths from the strange disease in the past two weeks.
He called the report fake, misleading and baseless.
Source: dailypost.ng