The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has come out to say that 50 per cent of meningitis patients will die if untreated.

Dr Pricillia Ibekwe, the Director of Special Duties and Technical Lead for the National Cerebrospinal Meningitis Technical Working Group of NCDC, recently revealed this during an awareness walk to mark the 2021 World Meningitis Day.

According to her, the disease could be also be transmitted from person to person, so it is very dangerous for all citizens.

She added that the sad thing about the disease is that it is a race against time, therefore it deserves our ultimate attention.

Her words, “The sad thing about meningitis is that it is a race against time, and 50 per cent of people who have meningitis will die if untreated.”

“In Nigeria, in 2016/2017 there was a massive outbreak – over 14,542 people were affected and nearly 1,200 deaths; that is unacceptable.”

“In 2017/2018, we had about 3,500 people with meningitis, and those numbers are beginning to fall.”

“In 2018/2019, we had about 1,532 people that were affected and in 2020 it was less than 1,000 cases.”