Background: The Northern
region of Ghana experienced an outbreak of bacterial meningitis between
December, 2015 and May, 2016 with majority of cases recorded in Bole and
Sawla-Tuna-Kalba districts. The
epidemiological features of this outbreak were explored in these two districts.
Methods: Data on the meningitis outbreak that occurred in the Northern region
of Ghana between December, 2015 and May, 2016 was
obtained from the Ghana Health Service’s Department
of Disease Surveillance. Specifically that on Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and Bole
districts was extracted and analyzed. Results: Two different meningitis outbreaks
occurred in two districts in Northern Region. Bole district had an outbreak due
to S.pneumoniae while N.meningitids (N.m. W135) caused an outbreak in
Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district. S.pneumoniae cases
peaked earlier than N. meningitidis.
The highest number of cases occurred in age groups 6-14 years followed by 15-44 years
with deaths occurring in under 5 years and above 60 years. There was an
association between outcome and age group, at a p value of 0.027. Conclusion: Bacterial
meningitis due to S.pneumoniae is
increasingly becoming a major cause of meningitis outbreaks in Ghana. The
differential periods of onset of pneumococcus and meningococcus outbreaks
suggest that climatic factors responsible for these two diseases may be
different and therefore it is prudent for studies to be carried to define more specific weather
conditions favoring
the spread of these two diseases in Ghana. With the extreme age groups
recording fatalities, there
is the need to give children and the elderly more attention to mitigate the
effects of any future outbreak.
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