Lagos Alerts On Danger Of Cerebrospinal Meningitis

Lagos State Government on Monday alerted members of the public on the dangers of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) urging them to report any suspected case to the nearest public health facility.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris who stated this while commenting on the new wave of meningitis crisis rocking the country said a new strain of CSM causative agent, Neisseria Meningitides type C, which is slightly different from the causative agent of the seasonal CSM in Nigeria has affected some states in the country.

Idris explained that CSM is a dangerous and a life threatening disease that affects the thin layers of the tissue around the brain and spinal cord of an infected human person and it is caused by bacteria.

He added that Cerebrospinal meningitis is an epidemic prone disease that spreads from person to person through contact with discharges or droplets from nose and throat of an infected person.

“It can also be transmitted through kissing, sneezing and coughing especially amongst people living in close quarters, hotels, refugee camp, barracks, public transportation and areas with poor ventilation or overcrowded places,” he said.

The commissioner noted that though, seasonal meningitis outbreak usually affects the mainly Northern States that fall within the meningitis belt of the country, saying it is not impossible that outbreaks can occur in any part of the country, Lagos inclusive, in view of the phenomenal climatic change as well as the high human migration.

Idris added that no case of CSM has been recorded in Lagos State contrary to what has been published, assuring that  as a responsive government they deemed it fit to alert the public.