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The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Charity Sarpong, has confirmed that, a second-year science student of Koforidua Technical School SECTECH, who passed away over the weekend, died from Meningitis.

Denis Opare Saforo, died at the Regional Government Hospital in Koforidua on Friday, November 8, after a short illness which has now been confirmed to be Meningitis.

However, Dr. Sarpong refuted reports of an outbreak in the region, stating that the situation has been controlled.

“On Thursday, we got information about a case from SECTECH that had been sent to the Regional Hospital, and I think they were suspecting meningitis. The doctor who received the case, did all the necessary things, took all the necessary investigations including a number puncher, and did all the needed investigations while the 15-year-old boy was put on treatment,” she narrated.

“Unfortunately, he passed away the next day in the early hours of the morning which was Friday, but then the results from the test conducted indicated positive for meningitis, so immediately the Regional and Municipal Health Directorate were informed, and a team were immediately dispatched to the school where the assistant headmaster of the school and other teachers, were met at the school. So the student body were engaged in the necessary education by the health team on cardinal symptoms of meningitis and how to go about it.”

She added that “after the health education, they followed up to the dormitories to inspect the dormitories and identified 22 immediate contacts who were students, so these 22 students are being followed up to know and ensure that should they also develop such symptoms they will be picked up and given the necessary treatment”.

“I must say that currently, everything is calm in the school because we have given them the necessary support, they know what to look out for, they also have our contact numbers so that when there is something we will be immediately contacted for the necessary support. I would like to repeat that it is not an outbreak of meningitis. Yes; it is a positive meningitis case which has been treated the way it should be so this doesn’t mean it is an outbreak. I must say occasionally throughout the year there are cases of meningitis which we treat and majority of them recover and are healed, but it is unfortunate that our young boy could not make it”.

The death had caused some concern in the school as some students fear that this could be the onset of a disease outbreak, similar to the health crisis at the Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region.

A total of four students at the Kumasi Academy have died from suspected Swine Flu with a further 30 being hospitalized.

However, Dr. Mrs Charity Sarpong added that the Regional Health Directorate is taking steps with the Education service to intensify surveillance and revamp infirmaries at all Senior High Schools within the Eastern Region, to enable them refer cases to hospitals promptly for immediate medical care.

“We have put in place necessary things to ensure that such a thing does not happen again, the school is also being supported to revamp its infirmary because it is one of the things we noticed that they needed to revamp it to make it very active so that any student who gets the slightest ailment would be referred to the infirmary and where it is necessary, he will be referred to the hospital in due time for the necessary treatment to be administered.”