By; MATTHEW UKACHUNWA, Lagos
Journalists have been urged to opt for solution reporting, and shun social disorder reportage.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, made the plea recently while debunking some media reports that the state had recorded deaths arising from meningitis.
The commissioner described as false, reports alleging that two deaths attributable to meningitis occurred in Lagos.
“The report is false and is capable of causing undue panic among the citizenry,” Idris said while reviewing the activities of the state government with regards to curtailing and controlling the outbreak and spread of meningitis epidemic in the state.
He stressed that “the report carried by some newspapers and online platforms is untrue and does not represent the reality of the situation in Lagos State as at today.”
He explained that there are two main types of meningitis, namely: The epidemic-prone meningitis which is referred to Cerebro-spinal Meningitis(CSM) caused by bacteria called Neisseria Meningitis. The occurrence of this type of meningitis is seasonal or cyclical depending on the level of herd immunity and climate condition.
The second type of meningitis is non-epidemic meningitis. “This type of meningitis,” the health commissioner stated, “is usually caused by a virus or other bacteria but not by Neisseria Meningitis.”
According to him, “the non-epidemic meningitis occurs without any seasonal pattern or periodicity.”
Idris also disclosed that though the Disease Surveillance Notification Officer, Lagos Island Local Government, reported nine suspected cases of meningitis from Massey Street Children Hospital in Week 13 of this year with two deaths, none of these was confirmed as due to the causative agent of CSM.
He revealed that all the nine cases presented with critical features of meningitis at the said hospital, but laboratory test proved that they were either due to Haemophilus influenza or Streptococcus pneumoiae3 and no Neisseria meningitis.
Within the period under review, Idris said, the Ministry of Health was also notified of a three-year old boy presenting clinically of meningitis at a registered private health facility in the state, but the laboratory investigation did not confirm CSM.
“The blood culture yielded Wessiella and not meningococcus,” the commissioner declared, adding that the patient responded to treatment.
He affirmed: “None of these cases presented with a history of recent travel to any area with an outbreak of meningitis and neither were visits from such aforementioned cases.” xxx
