The Cross River State Ministry of Health says one patient out of 23 persons suffering from Cerebral Spinal Meningitis has died at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital. Speaking at the hospital, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong, said the cases recorded were mainly from Ogoja and Yala Local Government Areas of the state.
“Cross River State is actually one of the 16 states with the outbreak of meningitis. We’ve had about twenty something cases and the very recent past, four cases almost at the same time which is not normal for the outbreak in Cross River State”, he said.
The Commissioner said the Ministry is on top of the game and is working hand-in-hand with the Disease Surveillance Control office in affected areas to manage the situation. He regretted the death of a child as a result of the outbreak, assuring people of the state that a thorough investigation is ongoing to ensure they get vaccinated against the disease in the shortest possible time.
“We have lost one person already out of the number, a child and it is regretted. I have put machinery in place, a team led by the State Epidemiologist to carry out surveillance.
“It’s through line-listing that we were able to uncover these 23 cases, and another notable case is that they are from the northern part of Cross River State; mainly Ogoja and Yala Local Government Areas. We are treating the symptoms while we await the vaccines for the Type C,” Dr. Asibong said.