Meningitis spreads to Cross River, kills 12-year-old boy

The dreaded meningitis disease ravaging parts of the north has spread to Cross River state, killing a 12-year-old boy identified as Paul Ogar.

Inyang Asibong, commissioner of health in the state, disclosed this on Wednesday, saying 24 cases had been reported.

The commissioner said Ogar was brought from Ogoja local government area to Calabar, the capital of the state.

She explained that Ogoja and Yala local government areas are places in the state with cases of meningitis in the current outbreak.

“Before now, we have actually been having sporadic cases of CSM, but it has been on the increase this year and this is not normal for Cross River. We have set our state team in motion and the epidemiology department is currently on top of the situation, carrying out surveillance in all quarters,” the commissioner said.

“Another notable thing is that these cases were mainly recorded in Ogoja and Yala local government areas of the state.

“We are working with the federal ministry of health to ensure that we curb this outbreak and hoping that we get the vaccination for the symptoms.”

She said people who stay in poorly ventilated houses with poor sanitary conditions are susceptible to the disease.

“People living in overcrowded conditions, poorly ventilated houses and generally poor sanitary conditions are very vulnerable to respiratory infections, and this encourages the growth and survival of the bacteria,” she said.

“Incubation period for CSM vary from two to 10 days, with symptoms such as but not limited to stiff neck, high fever, headache, vomiting, and confusion.”