Conference Abstract | Volume 9, Abstract 0001 (ConfProc7) | Published: 23 Mar 2026
George Ayitey1, Anthony Zunuo Dongdem1,&, Eric Gyamfi², Reuben Sukpen², Joyce Der1
1Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Health Sciences, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana, 2Public health unit, Margret Marquart Catholic Hospital, Kpando, Volta Region.
&Corresponding author: Anthony Zunuo Dongdem; Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Health Sciences, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana, Email: dongdem@uhas.edu.gh ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6603-5754
Received: 01 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 23 Mar 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
This is part of the Proceedings of the 8th Ghana FELTP Scientific Conference and FELTP Competency Graduation, Accra, Ghana, 10 – 11 December, 2025
Keywords: Outbreak investigation, Influenza, Bishop Herman College
©George Ayitey et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: George Ayitey et al. Investigation of suspected influenza outbreak in a senior high school, Kpando Municipality, Ghana, 2024. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):0001. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0001
A suspected outbreak of an influenza-like illness was reported at Bishop Herman College on the 23rd January, 2024 after a number of students were admitted to the Margert Marquart Catholic Hospital presenting with symptoms of cough, fever and other respiratory symptoms. The suspected outbreak was investigated to determine its magnitude and implement control measures.
A total of 11 suspected cases, all male cases aged 14 – 16 years (mean – 15) from a total school population of 3,641. All cases were confined to Eti-Mantey’s House (house 4), specifically dormitory 4 and 5, where the attack rate reached 14.9%, compared to the overall school attack rate of 0.3%. The clinical presentations were dominated by cough (100%), fever (91%) and difficulty in breathing (55%). Laboratory testing of six nasopharyngeal samples yielded negative results for influenza A and B Viruses. No fatalities occurred (CFR:0%).
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