Health Officials Act to Contain Meningitis Scare
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
July 25, 2002
Posted to the web July 25, 2002
Health officials in the northern province of Ngozi have
said they are gearing up to prevent a possible meningitis outbreak in the
area, according to a report reaching IRIN on Thursday.
An assessment mission that visited the province from 19
to 21 July compiled the report. It comprised six officials from the Ministry
of Health, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the University
Teaching Hospital of Kamenge, The mission saw five cases of suspected
meningitis at the Kiremba Hospital. All the patients came from the nearby
hills of Ragwe and Nyamarobe. Another two suspected cases, from the commune of
Mwumba, were admitted to Ngozi Hospital on Sunday.
The steps taken to contain the outbreak include the
delivery of 25,000 doses of vaccines and 400 ampoules of chloramphenicol (a
broad-spectrum antibiotic used especially in treating typhoid fever and
rickettsial infections), according to the mission's report. It said that
UNICEF had appealed for help towards resupplying the health ministry with
vaccines.
Planned action included the training of health personnel
in epidemiological surveillance and reporting. Efforts were also to be made to
inform the public about the disease because, with the outbreak coming just
after a vaccination against yellow fever, "rumours" had surfaced to the effect
that meningitis was a result of the vaccinations, the report said. Health
authorities were also planning to implement a mass vaccination against
meningitis in the Ragwe and Nyamabrobe hills, the sites of the suspected
cases, it added.