Health News of Monday, 1 February 2016

Source: GNA

Koforidua records no case of Pneumococcal Meningitis

The Medical Director of Koforidua Regional Hospital, Dr Kwame Annim Boamah said the hospital has not recorded any case of pneumococcal meningitis, which has been reported in some parts of the country.

He said however, the hospital is on the high alert for early detection and treatment of any case that would be reported in the facility.

Dr Boamah gave the assurance when the hospital organised a media interaction as part of the activities of the 2015 Annual Review Meeting of the hospital.

He urged people who suffer from headache, high temperatures’ and pain in the neck not to sit in the home but to rush to the nearest medical facility for examination and treatment.

Dr Boamah said HIV and AIDS were the leading causes of death in the facility for 2015, recording 167 fatalities during the year under review.

This represents 12.9 per cent of all the deaths recorded in the facility for the year.

He explained that, this was so because; the use of anti-retroviral drugs had turned the HIV from terminal disease to a chronic disease where people had to take the drugs for the rest of their lives.

However, he explained that, when people start taking the drug and becomes healthy, many assume that they have overcome the disease and therefore stop taking them.

Dr Boamah said, some move to prayer camps and other places and allow other opportunistic diseases to attack them and kill them.