Effect of climate change on cerebrospinal meningitis morbidities and mortalities: A longitudinal and community-based study in Ghana

Abstract

Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) is one of the climate-sensitive diseases affected by global climate change. Its causal agent, Neisseria meningitidis bacterial, thrives well in warm environments. CSM epidemics are likely to be exacerbated by the warming globe emanating from climate change. Yet studies have rarely examined the association between climat’e change and CSM. Moreover, studies drawing on quantitative and qualitative data to understand the pathways of climate change domains and CSM relationships as well as community perspectives of CSM are rare. This study deployed mixed-method research to analyse community perceptions of and the relationship between climate change and CSM. We collected 96 months of data on changes in metrological weather parameters (temperatures, sunshine, relative and absolute humidity, and rainfall) and CSM cases and mortalities recorded between 2012 and 2019. Community-level data were elicited using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between climate variables and CSM. High temperatures and sunshine, low rainfall, low relative and absolute humidity were significantly associated with CSM outbreaks. Community participants demonstrated fair knowledge about CSM and attributed its outbreak to climate change. The respondents asserted that the symptoms of CSM, such as severe headache, high fever, stiff neck and waist pains, among others, are often prevalent in their communities when there is high temperature, low relative and absolute humidity, excessive sunshine and dusty winds (harmattan winds). They also revealed that poor environmental sanitation, poor room ventilation, overcrowding in a room, and social integration such as festivals, markets, and religious activities, among others, can exacerbate the outbreak of CSM. We recommend awareness campaign in the communities on the need to ensure proper ventilation in their homes and workplaces, keep their surroundings clean and preserve the econ-system to reduce high temperatures.