DAKAR (AlertNet) – Health authorities in southern Ghana are battling an outbreak of meningitis which has killed four people in the municipality of Obuasi, the Daily Graphic newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Seven other people suffering from the disease are receiving medical attention at the Obuasi Government Hospital although health authorities are not clear about how the disease broke out in the region, the paper said.
A team from the municipal health services has been dispatched to communities to educate them about the disease and urge them to rush to hospital people showing symptoms of the disease. Many residents had simply described the condition as "a strange disease".
Meningitis infects the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The most common causes are either viral or bacterial infections.
“An affected person could die after 30 minutes if he or she did not receive medical attention,” said Akwasi Amankwah, the Obuasi municipal director of health.
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