Diarhoea: Tears As Queens College Buries Orphan Pupil

Tears flowed at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba, Lagos State (Nigeria) on Thursday, as one of the victims of the Queen’s College diarrhoea outbreak, Praise Sodipo, was buried.

Representatives of the school’s management, colleagues, family and friends of the victim paid their last respect to the 14-year-old, who died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, last Friday.

Some of the mourners broke down in tears when the coffin was opened for all to see late Sodipo, who was dressed in her school uniform.

The Senior Secondary School one pupil was buried around 11am.

Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Education has admitted blame in the death of the three pupils of the school, saying the incident could have been prevented if proactive steps were taken.

Many pupils of the school were admitted in the sickbay after eating spaghetti and drinking water said to have been contaminated.

Two pupils – Vivian Osuiniyi and Bithia Itulua –  who were in Junior Secondary School two and three respectively, reportedly died as a result of the epidemic.

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had led a team to the school and ordered an investigation into the incident, just as the then Principal of the school, Dr Lami Amodu, denied the epidemic, blaming the report on haters of the school.

Amodu was later transferred from the school.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, a few weeks later released a statement saying health records from the school’s sickbay indicated that a total of 1,222 pupils presented themselves at the school’s clinic on account of abdominal pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

The statement noted that 16 pupils were admitted to various hospitals. While two were confirmed died, one was on admission at the Intensive Care Unit of LASUTH.

Sodipo, who was the pupil in the ICU, died on Friday, bringing the number of deaths to three.

It was learnt that the victim’s family took her remains from LASUTH mortuary around 10am on Thursday.

The hearse bearing the body was accompanied by the family to the Atan Cemetery where sympathisers had converged.

The group observed a short service of songs, led by a minister at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, City of Refuge Parish, Pastor Joseph Ekato.

Ekato condoled with the family and prayed to God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.

The coffin was subsequently lowered into the grave.

Her guardian, Lawrence Otun, said she was only eight when she lost both parents who were ministers at the RCCG. She was their only child.

He said she was enrolled in Queen’s College four years ago, being the only pupil to be admitted on merit from Osun State.

He said, “The sickness started from the school, but they refused to inform us. It was when my wife went to pick her for the midterm break that she discovered that the girl had been terribly sick and was admitted to the sickbay. She took her to a hospital.

“We were treating malaria when a doctor advised that we do a scan. The scan showed she had liver enlargement. The doctor referred us to Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba. Because it was late, my wife brought her home.

“When I, however, saw how she was breathing, I quickly rushed her to a private hospital around 11pm where she was placed on a drip till the following morning. We were advised to do another scan.

“The new result showed that she had perforated intestine due to chronic typhoid said to have been caused by the contaminated water in the school.”

He explained that she was transferred to LASUTH in an ambulance and was admitted.

A surgery was later conducted at the hospital.

Around 1pm on Saturday, she was reportedly transferred to the ICU, where she was placed on oxygen.

Otun said the illness got worse as she started convulsing and went into a coma, adding that she was placed on a life support.

“We spent over four weeks at the hospital; I couldn’t go to work. Despite all that, she still did not make it,” he added.

A family friend, Steven Babatunde, described the victim as brilliant and intelligent, adding that she was a mentor to some teenagers in her local church.

“The girl could have become a great leader in the future, but her life was cut short by the carelessness of some people. The former principal and the Federal Government must pay for this,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Education has said some lapses caused the death of the three pupils of the school.

The Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Jonathan Mbaka, told journalists on Tuesday during an interview that the monitoring team of the education quality assurance inspected the school prior to the outbreak.

He said, “I must confess that there were lapses in the ministry concerning the report filed by the Education Quality Assurance team.

“The report was submitted to the directorate of that ministry. But the directorate didn’t pass the report to other departments for action. They just kept it in the office.

“Unfortunately, it was this week that I was able to get access to that report. It is a little lapse on our part. But it is a procedural issue and when procedure has existed for too long, to change it becomes an issue. No one expected such to happen; other reports had been kept like that and nothing happened.”

Mbaka, who also faulted the former principal of the school for denying the incident, noted that it was after the new principal came into office that the government knew there was a crisis in the school.

“The challenge we had was that the facts were not coming to us. I can inform you that I have visited the school three times. When I visited the school, I postponed the resumption for two weeks when I saw what was on ground.

“We have discovered that there is a failure in the system. This has opened our eyes to a lot of things. And we have agreed that after this issue, we will visit each of the unity schools for assessment. With this, I believe that we will not have a repeat of such,” he added.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, in a statement, condoled with families of the victims, saying the government was addressing the problem.

He urged the pupils doing examinations in the school to continue to come from home, adding that the school would soon resume normal academic activities.

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Why Nigerians Are The Most Depressed People In Africa - WHO

From being some of the happiest people on earth, Nigerians have slumped to the rank of the most depressed in Africa. This was the conclusion contained in the latest figures released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which show that Nigeria has 7,079,815 sufferers of depression, that is 3.9 per cent of the population.

Also, 4,894,557 Nigerians, that is 2.7 per cent of the population, suffer anxiety disorders. The country is closely followed by Ethiopia with 4,480,113 sufferers, that is 4.7 per cent of her population; Democratic Republic of Congo with 2,871,309 sufferers (3.8 per cent); South Africa with 2,402,230 sufferers (4.6 per cent); and Tanzania with 2,138,939 sufferers, that is 4.1 per cent. Seychelles has the lowest number of depressed persons with just 3,722 that is 4.0 per cent.

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease, according to WHO. Depression can lead to suicide, which is the second leading cause of death in 15 – 29-year- olds globally. Consequently, the condition can lead to more suicide cases in the country.

In the African region, close to 30 million people suffer from depression.

The global body gave the figures in a report released ahead of the World Health Day (WHD) today titled “Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders: Global Health Estimates.”

WHD, celebrated on April 7 every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO, provides a unique opportunity to mobilise action around a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. The theme of 2017 World Health Day campaign is depression.

According to the WHO report, depressive disorders and anxiety disorders are two main diagnostic categories of common mental disorders that are highly prevalent in the population.

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.

The WHO noted that at a global level, over 300 million people are estimated to suffer from depression, equivalent to 4.4 per cent of the world’s population and nearly that number again suffers from a range of anxiety disorders. It, however, noted that since many people experience both conditions simultaneously (comorbidity), it is inappropriate to simply add these two figures together to arrive at a total for common mental disorders.

The WHO noted that the consequences of these disorders in terms of lost health are huge.

Depression is ranked by WHO as the single largest contributor to global disability (7.5 per cent of all years lived with disability in 2015); anxiety disorders are ranked 6th (3.4 per cent).

According to the global health agency, depression is also the major contributor to suicide deaths (about 800 000 per year).

Why are Nigerians most depressed in Africa? “The number of persons with common mental disorders globally is going up, particularly in lower-income countries, because the population is growing and more people are living to the age when depression and anxiety most commonly occurs,” the WHO explained.

Who is most likely to get depressed? “Although depression can and does affect people of all ages, from all walks of life, the risk of becoming depressed is increased by poverty, unemployment, life events such as the death of a loved one or a relationship break-up, physical illness and problems caused by alcohol and drug use,” the WHO noted.

To address the issues of depression and anxiety disorders, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has introduced LUTH-Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) and its “ONE 1 MORE DAY” campaign aimed at reducing suicide deaths.

Consultant Psychiatrist and LUTH-SURPIN Coordinator, Dr. Raphael E. Ogbolu, told The Guardian yesterday: “SURPIN has hotlines (09080217555, 09034400009, 08111909909, 07013811143) through which members of the public seeking help can reach us. The main target groups are those at risk of suicide and are contemplating an attempt, those who have survived an attempted suicide and therefore may be in critical physical condition, and those who are bereaved by the suicide of a family member, because they themselves also then become at risk.”

According to the WHO, the health condition affects people of all ages, from all walks of life, in all countries. It causes mental anguish and impacts on people’s ability to carry out even the simplest everyday tasks, with sometimes devastating consequences for relationships with family and friends and the ability to earn a living. At worst, depression can lead to suicide, now the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.

Yet, the condition can be prevented and treated. A better understanding of what depression is, and how it can be prevented and treated, will help reduce the stigma and lead to more people seeking help.

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Meningitis: Why Nigerians Should Not Worry - Health Minister

The Honourable Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole has assured Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Health under his purview would nip the outbreak of meningitis ravaging some states in the bud. He made this assertive conviction about the capability of the Federal government after his ministry issued public advisory warning to Nigerians after 328 deaths associated with Meningitis have been recorded since November 2016 when he spoke extensively on efforts employed and deployed so far to curtail the further spread of the epidemic.

In his words, "we have started working with all the affected states in specific areas of collaboration on massive awareness and sensitization, laboratory investigation and analysis, proper documentation and disease surveillance techniques through the National Centre for Disease Control and National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA) who have been of tremendous support since the outbreak. We are in constant discussion with World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, E-health Africa and other international health agencies for supplies of vaccines and injections.

Through our initiatives, we have secured 500,000 doses of the meningococcal vaccines from WHO which will be used in Zamfara and Katsina states while additional 800,000 units from the British government .By next Tuesday, there will be a meeting with the International Review Group of The World Health Organization (WHO) where request for additional vaccines shall be approved, as part of practical and medically certified efforts to stem this ugly incidence.

Even with the tunnels of accomplishment made, we are not relenting on all the progress made, as we have been assured of millions of vaccine doses through other notable and international donor agencies. Unfortunately, Nigeria had always been bedevilled with the stereotype A in years past but this new strain of the bacterial disease, Meningitis Stereotype C which the vaccine is not commercially available in required quantities and can only be shipped to the country by WHO only if laboratory investigation confirms the existence of the strain type C.

Our ongoing spirited effort is geared to upscale through nationwide immunisation campaign while navigating the menace using a combination vaccine by conducting active case finding, strengthening surveillance, case detection, verification and communication management, performing lumbar puncture of suspect cases in a well coordinated atmosphere under NCDC. Our partners are already re-training physicians on the effective collection of cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis.

We are equally advocating for prompt diagnosis and have issued directive to all Federal medical facilities and PHCs to treat all cases of meningitis free of charge. All Nigerians especially residents of Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger, Zamfara and Jigawa states are advised to seek early attention when discomforted with symptoms of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) and avoid clogging together in unventilated and over-crowded rooms.

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Meningitis: What Every Nigerian Should Know

The current outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis, CSM, in Nigeria is repetition of series of outbreaks mostly affecting States in the upper parts of the country which fall within the African Meningitis Belt. A child being immunised against mennigitis In a public advisory on the latest outbreak, the Federal Ministry of Health, explained that for the first time, the meningitis epidemic is being caused by Neisseria Meningitides type C rather than the known Meningitides Type A.. Nigeria has a long history of CSM epidemics. One of the worst occurred in 1996 when 109,580 cases and 11,717 deaths were recorded. In 2003, there were 4,130 cases and 401 deaths; 9,086 cases and 562 deaths in 2008, and 9,086 cases and 562 deaths recorded in 2009. The historical records and past experiences influenced health authorities in Africa (especially countries within the African Meningitis Belt), the World Health Organisation and Development Partners to roll out a strategic intervention for the effective prevention of such epidemics. As at Friday, March 31, 2017, there were 2,524 infections with 328 deaths recorded in 90 Local Government Areas in 16 States of the Federation. The affected States include Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Nassarawa , Jigawa, FCT, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. Others are Kano, Osun, Cross Rivers, Lagos and Plateau. According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, CDC, bacterial meningitis is very serious and can be deadly. Death can occur in as little as a few hours, and even though most people recover from meningitis, however, permanent disabilities (such as brain damage, hearing loss, and learning disabilities) can result from the infection. Types of bacteria that can cause meningitis These include, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Group B Streptococcus, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae and Listeria monocytogenes. Causes and risk factors Common causes of bacterial meningitis vary by age group. People at increased risk for bacterial meningitis include babies compared to people in other age groups. However, people of any age can develop bacterial meningitis. People working with meningitis-causing pathogens, such as microbiologists are routinely exposed to meningitis-causing bacteria are at increased risk for meningitis. How it spreads Generally, the meningitis bacteria spread from one person to another although how people spread the germs often depends on the type of bacteria. It is also important to know that people can carry these bacteria in or on their bodies without being sick. These people are “carriers.” Most carriers never become sick, but can still spread the bacteria to others. People spread germs by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who breathe in the bacteria. People spread Neisseria meningitidis by sharing respiratory or throat secretions (saliva or spit). This typically occurs during close (coughing or kissing) or lengthy (living in the same household) contact. Signs and symptoms Meningitis symptoms include sudden onset of fever, headache, and stiff neck. There are often other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, photophobia (increased sensitivity to light) and altered mental status (confusion). In newborns and babies, the meningitis symptoms of fever, headache, and neck stiffness may be absent or difficult to notice. The baby may be irritable, vomit, feed poorly, or appear to be slow or inactive. In young babies, doctors may also look for a bulging fontanelle (soft spot on infant’s head) or abnormal reflexes. If you think your baby or child has any of these symptoms, call the doctor right away. Symptoms of bacterial meningitis can appear quickly or over several days. Typically they develop within 3 to 7 days after exposure. Later symptoms of bacterial meningitis can be very serious (e.g., seizures, coma). Early diagnosis, treatment and isolation Diagnosis :Collection of samples of blood or cerebrospinal fluid (fluid near the spinal cord) for laboratory test. Treatment :Doctors treat bacterial meningitis with a number of antibiotics. It is important to start treatment as soon as possible. Prevention Tips: The most effective way to be protected against certain types of bacterial meningitis is to get vaccinated against the three types of bacteria that can cause meningitisIt is very important that all individuals should acquaint themselves with at least the basic knowledge/understanding of CSM and how it is transmitted and prevented. *Strictly adhere to the advice on protection *Promptly seek medical/health care as soon as CSM or CSM-like illness is suspected *All hospitals are to ensure that appropriate diagnoses are made including laboratory confirmation and immediate reporting through the surveillance system *Commence early treatment as soon as the diagnoses of CSM is made Restrict mingling with other people once one is diagnosed as a case of CSM *All Secondary and Tertiary Public Health Facilities should provide free treatment to all CSM Patients Prevention tips Avoidance of overcrowding, sleeping in well ventilated places, avoidance of close and prolonged contact with case/s and proper disposal of respiratory and throat secretions. Others include: Strict observance of hand hygiene and sneezing into Elbow joint/sleeves, reduction of hand shaking, kissing, sharing utensils or medical interventions such as mouth resuscitation; vaccination with relevant sero-type of the meningococcal vaccine and avoidance of self-medication.

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