Epidemic meningitis cases in Africa hit 10-year low

The number of meningitis cases in Africa’s “meningitis belt” during the current epidemic season is the lowest recorded in the past 10 years, according to a WHO press release.

Since the introduction of the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine, more than 100 million people in 10 of the countries in the African meningitis belt, an area with enhanced surveillance for meningococcal diseases, have been vaccinated. The implementation of the vaccine is expected to eliminate epidemics of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A, which is the predominant cause of the disease, according to WHO.

There were 9,249 suspected cases of meningitis in 18 of the 19 countries in the African meningitis belt from Jan. 1 to May 12, as well as 857 deaths, according to WHO. The case fatality ratio is 9.3%.

There have been outbreaks confirmed in Guinea (404 cases; 38 deaths) and South Sudan (196 cases; 13 deaths). In Guinea, the outbreak was in Siguiri and was related to N. meningitidis serogroup W135. In South Sudan, the outbreak was in Malakal and linked to N. meningitidis serogroup A.

In Guinea, the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on vaccine provision for epidemic meningitis control conducted a vaccination campaign and released 63,075 doses of ACW polysaccharide vaccines. In South Sudan, ICG conducted a vaccination campaign that included 198,770 doses of meningococcal A conjugate vaccine.

The countries in the African meningitis belt region include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan and Tongo.