By Odunewu Segun
Reacting to the comment that credited to the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, that the current outbreak of Meningitis in the country was due to the sin of fornication committed by Nigerians, Senator Ben-Murray Bruce said the real sin causing meningitis is the sin of mismanaging the money budgeted to cure and prevent diseases that regularly affects Nigerians.
In his twitter handle, Senator Bruce explained that with brilliant medical minds like Bennet Omalu, political leaders shouldn’t operate from the mindset that sins cause diseases like Meningitis. “The real sin causing meningitis is the sin of mismanaging the money budgeted to cure and prevent and prevent a disease that regularly affects Nigerians”
According to the Senator, meningitis is caused by bacteria not sin. “If sin caused Meningitis, most of us politicians would have been infected, but rather it’s the poor who suffer it most,” the Senator explained.
The disease which required over $1.1 billion for the vaccination of over 22 million persons in Zamfara, Sokot, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger, and has claimed over 300 lives.
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The ravaging ailment that broke out in some northern part of the country was caused by Neisseria Meningitides type C, which is slightly different from the causative agent of the seasonal CSM in Nigeria. It 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.
According to medical experts, 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, adding that it can also be transmitted through kissing, sneezing and coughing, especially among people living in close quarters, hotels, refugee camp, barracks, public transportation and areas with poor ventilation or overcrowded places.
Meningitis usually manifest with high body temperature, pain and stiffness of the neck, headache, vomiting, fear of light, restlessness and confusion stressed that death may occur if not promptly and properly managed.