‘Withdraw your wards from KUMACA if…’ - Father of deceased student advises

Father of one of the students of Kumasi Academy who died of swine flu has asked parents to withdraw their children from the school if authorities fail to find lasting solution to what he termed ‘mysterious deaths’.

Mr Kofi Adu-Boffour whose daughter, Clementina Konadu, was buried Tuesday, observed not much is being done to prevent such deaths which have been recurring in the school.

At the burial and funeral rites of her daughter, she told Kumasi-based Akoma FM at one of their PTA meetings, he said he raised concerns about the ‘mysterious deaths of students which the school authorities promised to find solutions to, but noted that nothing was done about it.

On Tuesday, health officials announced at a news conference that the outbreak has been contained to prevent further spread. “The situation at KUMACA is under control now because for the past three days we have not recorded any case of swine flu among the students,” Ashanti Regional Health Director, Dr. Emmanuel Tinkorang, told journalists.

But Mr. Adu-Boffour believes not much is being done to end the recurring death which he said started three years ago. “If the school authority, government could not find solution to these mysterious deaths, I will advise that parents withdraw their wards from the school and find them different school,” he advised.

In his view, the deaths are becoming one too many in the school, saying “these deaths have been reoccurring in the school”. The late 16-year-old Clementina Konadu was a second year science student of the school and one of the four students who died of swine flu that rocked the school two weeks ago.

A total of 85 students of the Kumasi Academy were affected with the H1N1 influenza Type A virus, popularly known as swine flu virus since November 30, 2017. Eleven of the affected are currently on admission at four hospitals in Kumasi but officials say they are also in stable condition.

Health authorities struggled to identify the disease until Thursday, December 7, 2017 when officials announced tests have revealed the disease as H1N1.

Ahead of that, students were between given broad spectrum antibiotics with the hope of preventing further spread of the then unknown disease which was suspected caused by atypical bacterial. Twenty-six blood samples were sent to Noguchi to be tested for Ebola, Marburg and Lassa but all came out negative, ruling out fears of the cause of deaths being Ebola as earlier speculated.

Fifty-five samples which were sent to Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR),with 13 blood samples,15 throat swabs and 10 Cerebro-spinal fluids to be tested for Meningitis, Encephalitis and Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), all tested negative as well.

Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu on Thursday, December 7 revealed laboratory test results from the Noguchi Memorial Centre for Medical Research showed that majority of the samples from the students of KUMACA tested Positive for Influenza Type-A H1N1. Since Sunday, December 10, 2017 authorities have been fumigating the entire school.

Meanwhile, Mr. Adu-Boffour has told Akoma FM her daughter had wanted to become a medical doctor in future but her life was cut short by the outbreak of the disease. He said the Clementina had a plan study for a doctorate degree at the Oxford University, noting these and many more would make him miss her late daughter.