No fewer than 10 persons, www.calitown.com has been informed, have undergone or are undergoing treatment at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, UCTH, for what reliable medical sources in UCTH say is the deadly meningitis disease, an inflammation of the meninges, the three membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
While hospital sources have seemingly played down the resurgence of meningitis in the state so as not to cause undue panic, one deeply concerned parent of a patient, Chris Inyang, bemoaned on his Facebook page, the tacit refusal of health authorities in Cross River State to sound the alarm bells and properly sensitize the public. Inyang wrote, “…there’s a serious outbreak of meningitis in the state and my daughter is a victim … her neck is still stiff while the eyes are squinted yet government has not deemed it fit to make a public declaration of this epidemic to forestall a catastrophic death toll …”
One medical personnel in UCTH who spoke with www.calitown.com on conditions of anonymity further revealed that, “whether government wants to say something or not, we have a situation on our hands that demands that we all act to bring this meningitis thing under medical control, unless we are blind to the fact that meningitis, in its viral and bacterial form can be spread through sneezing, close contact or coughing. Let me sound the alarm bells that bacterial meningitis if left untreated is very fatal and leads to death.” He added that, “if you notice decreased appetite, irritability, sleepiness, lethargy and a fever in your child, seek immediate medical attention. For adults, probable signs may come as headaches, a fever, stiff neck, seizures, sensitivity to bright light, sleepiness, lethargy, nausea and decreased appetite.”
Our source advises that getting adequate amounts of rest and avoiding contact with sick people will go a long way to help prevent infections and that available preventive vaccinations should be obtained.
