Meningitis, lassa fever kill over 300 Nigerians

LAGOS, March 5 (Chinese media) -- Nigerian Minister of

Health Babatunde Osotimehin on Wednesday confirmed the deaths of 333 Nigerians

as a result of the outbreak of meningitis and lassa fever in 22 states in the

country.

The minister, who stated these at a press briefing in

Abuja, said the government was doing everything possible to contain the

outbreaks in different parts of the country.

He said, "As at today (Wednesday), we have recorded

5,323 cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis with 333 deaths in 22 states and 217

local government areas in Nigeria."

He added that since the beginning of this year, there

has been an upsurge in cases of lassa fever, especially in Abuja and its

environs. Within the last two weeks, 12 cases was recorded with five deaths.

Osotimehin also confirmed that four health workers at

the National Hospital, Abuja, who took care of some of the patients with lassa

fever, had fallen ill from infections from the virus.

Osotimehin said the challenge before the Federal

Ministry of Health on the issue of meningitis was its inability to rapidly

access significant quantities of vaccines to mount mass vaccination campaigns in

the affected areas.

The Federal Ministry of Health is striving to create

awareness and give appropriate information to prevent the spread of the

incidence. The ministry wants the general public and parents in particular to

know the symptoms, he said.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 51 persons have been

confirmed dead in Bauchi State following an outbreak of meningitis out of the

703 cases so far recorded in 19 out of the 20 local government areas of the

state.

The Commissioner for Health in the state Alhaji Aminu

Hammayo who disclosed this to reporters Wednesday at a press briefing, said the

worst cases were recorded in Dambam and Katagum local government areas, which

share border with Yobe and Jigawa States.

Hammayo said while Dambam recorded a total of 223

cases, Katagum reported 204 cases, which represented 65 percent of the total

cases recorded in the state.