Epidemic bacterial meningitis in Wello, northern Ethiopia, 1983
Agzew, Y.
Ethiopian Medical Journal 23(3): 103-106
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0014-1755 PMID: 4006922 Document Number: 255950
Patients (28) admitted with bacterial meningitis during an epidemic in Feb. 1983 were studied in Weldiya Hospital, Wello Administrative Region, northern Ethiopia. The male-to-female ratio was 1.8:1; 19 were below the age of 14 yr. The latex agglutination test was found to be a rapid and effective method of diagnosis in rural conditions. In a test made on an initial sample of CSF from 12 patients, 8 were found to have Group A Neisseria meningitidis. Climatic records showed that the epidemic started during the dry season, ending before the onset of the rains, with increasing mean temperature at this period.