Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

Swine flu outbreak at Mfantsipim: Students undergo screening

Last Updated: Sunday, 4 April 2010, 13:59 GMT Previous Page

Ten students have been diagnosed with the flu, authorities say

A team from the Central Regional Health Directorate has been screening students at the Mfantsipim Senior High School following an outbreak of swine flu there.

Ten students are currently being treated while another two from a junior high school at Breman Asikuma are also getting medical attention.

Visits to Mfantsipim have been restricted whiles the JHS has been shut down for two weeks.

This brings to twelve the number of reported swine flu cases in the Central Region and follows a string of outbreaks in some schools in Accra over the last few weeks.

Students at Mfantsipim last night demanded that they be sent home but the headmaster, Kwame Mieza Edjah, tells Joy News that decision can only be taken based on the advice of the medical team.

The Ghana Health Service has warned of more outbreaks and appeal that symptoms are reported for a prompt medical care.

A number of schools in Accra including Merton Montessori recently had to be closed down after some pupils there were infected.

The influenza, which is gradually becoming a pandemic, started gradually and there was full assurance it was under control.

Although reports of infections currently are minimal, there are fears there are several cases yet to be reported.

The possibility of a pandemic stares even stronger in the face of Ghanaians who are packed into commercials on a daily basis. That is, there are fears the reported cases are just a tip of the iceberg.

The Ayipe Primary and D/L school at the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District in the Central Region has been closed down for two weeks following an outbreak of H1N1 influenza (swine flu) in the school.

Two, out of the five suspected cases from Ayipe Primary School that were sent to Noguchi Memorial Institute for Scientific Research, have tested positive.

In a related development, ten out of the eleven suspected case from the Mfantsipim Senior High in Cape Coast Municipality have also tested positive.

The Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa-Doe, at a press conference in Cape Coast, said with the prompt response from the Regional Health Directorate, they have been able to put the disease under control.

Madam Benyiwa-Doe said as at now, twelve cases of the H1N1 flu has been reported in the Central Region.

She said Mfantsipim School would not be closed down, but visitation would be limited. She said this would enable the health directorate to control the disease.

Madam Benyiwa-Doe called on the general public not to panic since the disease is under control in the Region.


Story by Kwaku Antwi-Otoo (Asempa FM)

Ghana-H1N1-Outbreak

Ghanaian school battles swine flu outbreak

APA-Cape Coast (Ghana) Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, west of Accra, which is the first second cycle school in Ghana, is currently battling with the outbreak of the swine flu (H1N1 2009 virus) with 10 students confirmed as infected with the disease.

A team of medical experts have been deployed to the school and are currently screening and giving medication to students with symptoms of the virus.

A press conference organised by the school authorities in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Monday, said the 10 infected students are now receiving treatment after being quarantined.

The Cape Coast Metropolitan Director of the GHS, Dr. Joseph Nuertey, said 83 suspected cases have been screened and are on treatment.

He assured that the medical team on the ground was ready to work hard to prevent the spread of the virus.

The headmaster of the school, Mr. Koami Mieza Edjah, said students were being detained in the school to prevent the spread of the virus in their various communities during the Easter festivities.

He assured parents that their wards were in safe hands and that their detention in school was to prevent the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, APA observes here that the students were itching to go home and join their families to participate in the Easter merry making.

Last week, another secondary school in Accra, Achimota School, was closed down following an outbreak of the virus there.

Since the disease was detected in 2009 in Ghana, medical experts say no one has yet died from it.

Less than one week after the initial outbreak of H1N1 influenza was reported at Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, the number of infections has sharply shot up from 10 to 83.

The number of infections recorded at Ayipey in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District of the Central Region has also increased from two to 40.The new case at Mfantsipim and Ayipey brings to 480 to the number of infections reported so far nation-wide.

Less than one week after the initial outbreak of H1N1 influenza was reported at Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, the number of infections has sharply shot up from 10 to 83.

The number of infections recorded at Ayipey in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District of the Central Region has also increased from two to 40.The new case at Mfantsipim and Ayipey brings to 480 to the number of infections reported so far nation-wide.
The Director of Public Health Service (GHS) , Dr. Joseph Amankwah, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that as of Sunday, April 4, 2010 cases of the influenza had been recorded nation-wide but no death had so far been recorded.

At a press briefing at Mfantsipim School yesterday, the Central Regional Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr.,J B Eliezar, said the situation was being contained and that there was no cause for alarm .

For his part, the Cape Coast Metorpolitan Director of Health, Dr. Joseph Nuertey, said the situation at Mfantsipim School.
He said 63 students were screened on Saturday, while 193 were screened on Sunday, and gave the assurance that all the 83 students were responding to treatment.

He called for calm, particularly on the part of parents, saying the situation is now under control and cases are not coming in as they were at the initial stages.

He said, however, that the health authorities are not taking anything for granted but will work to ensure that the situation is improved.

Dr. Nurtey said the closure of the school will still not be recommended because that will lead to the spread of the disease.

He said an ambulance is on standby at the school to ensure that any critical case is sent to the Central Regional Hospital.

The headmaster of the school, Mr. Koame Mieza Edjah, appealed to parents not to visit the school for the next two weeks to enable the school and health authorities manage the situation.

He assured parents that the staff of the school are working to give students the needed attention and support during the period, adding that parents should bear with the authorities concerning the decision to keep students on the compound, saying it is in the best interest of all.

Mean while, the public has been advised not to ignore the recent increase in H1N1 influenza but do well to protect themselves from being infected with the deadly influenza, officials of the GHS have indicted.

The H1N1 influenza, commonly referred to as swine flu is a disease that is caused by a virus that affects the respiratory system.
It first broke out in April 2009 and has been declared a pandemic by the Word Health Oganisation (WHO).

The pandemic according to the word health body is a disease that spreads over a whole country or the word.

Ghana started recording cases in August 2009 and the highest hit is the country’s educational institutions, with the Lincoln Community School in Accra being the first to have been hit by flu in the latter part of the year. Since then, the virus has spread to the Okuapeman Senior High School in the Eastern Region, Merton Primary in Accra, Tema Parents School and Achimota Basic School.

At the end of March 2010 reports indicated that Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast and Ayipeh L/A Primary and Junior High School in the Asikuma-Odoben- Brakwa District of the Central Region have also been affected by the H1N1 influenza.

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Ghana Health Service, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health have warned of a threat of possible outbreak of Influenza H1N1 (Swine Flu) in Ghana.

A statement signed by the NADMO Coordinator, Kofi Portuphy, said the threat was heightened by the recent sporadic outbreaks of the disease in a number of schools in some regions leading to their closure.

Those affected include Merton Primary School, Tema Parents Association, Achimota Basic School, Lincoln Community School and American International School, all in the Greater Accra Region.

Others are Okuapeman Secondary School in the Eastern Region, Nankpanduri Senior High School in the Northern Region and Nfantsipim School and Ayipey in the Central Region.

The statement said minors and children were the vulnerable groups, and added that those from the affected schools might be incubating the disease without showing any signs or symptoms and could easily infect others.

?Due to the mode of transmission, crowding at social events, especially for children coming from different schools, would be highly fertile grounds for easy spread of the disease to family members, friends, and the community,? it said.

The statement, therefore, cautioned the general public to minimize crowding at social events, especially those meant for children.

It reminded the public that transmission of the disease was from human to human, through droplets released during coughing, sneezing and touching surfaces contaminated with body fluids secreted by infected persons and touching the eyes nose and mouth without washing hands.

The signs and symptoms of the disease include coughing, sneezing, fever, chits, running nose, headache, vomiting, sore throat and body aches, and complications may lead to pneumonia and difficulty in breathing.

The statement said an effective way of preventing infection was through observance of good personal hygiene by washing hands with soap and water as often as possible, especially after touching surfaces and hand shakes.

Meanwhile from Mpraeso, Agnes Opoku Sarpong reports that the pandemic has broken out at the Mpraeso Senior High School in the Eastern Region with two students confirmed as having the virus, out of 33 suspected cases.

A massive wave of H1N1 influenza (swine flu) has hit another Eastern Region School, Aburi Presbyterian Senior High School, and over 80 students are believed to have been infected.

This comes barely a week after over 170 students of the St. Martin’s Senior High School at Adoagyire in the same district got infected with the diseases.

Reports say the over 80 infected students of the Aburi Presbyterian SHS have been quarantined in one of the dormitories in the school.

One of the female students (name withheld), who spoke with our reporter, Kwaku Antwi-Otoo, alleged that the school authorities do not want their parents to know about the outbreak in the school.

"We were in class on Monday, 24th May, 2010, when we saw the school vehicle, conveying some of the female students to the hospital. We enquired why and they told us they have been infected with the H1N1 flu. The school authorities are preventing our parents from knowing so as at now, am not sure our parents are aware of the outbreaks”, the student explained.

The student explained that the school vehicle conveys 40 passengers and it did three trips, spawning suspicion that the figure could be more.

“The students are in the school and they are being through it everyday. The teachers would use handkerchiefs to cover their mouths when teaching while the rest of the students would also use handkerchiefs to cover their mouth”, the student added.

The student added that the teachers claims if the affected students mingled with the unaffected, the disease would spread.

The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Services (GHS), Dr. Erasmus Adongo, confirmed the disease to Asempa News, but explained that the situation is under control.

“I can’t give the figures now, but the District Director told me samples that were sent to Noguchi tested H1N1-positive and we are monitoring the situation”, he explained.

Meanwhile, Dr. Adongo says all the students who were infected at the St. Martin’s SHS in Adoagyire have been treated and discharged.

“For the past week, no one has reported any symptoms of the H1N1 and so we believe they disease has been put under control," he said.

Authorities at the Achimota Hospital in Accra have confirmed reports of the H1N1 Influenza cases, popularly known as the swine flu, at the hospital.

The hospital authorities say the thirteen reported cases came from Achimota and its environs.

Nine out of the 13 reported cases came from St John’s Grammar Senior High School with one case each from the other areas in the area.

The victims were between the ages of two months and 15 years.

The Diseases Control Officer of the Ghana Health Service at the Achimota Hospital, Michael Alexander Garr, told Asempa News that the all the 13 have been treated and discharged.

He said his outfit had wanted to close down the St. Johns Grammar SHS, but that decision was suspended after school authorities told them the school would be vacating on Wednesday.

He said this will pave way for them to fumigate the school.

............................................