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New meningitis vaccine successful in Africa
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The new meningitis vaccine, which targets serotype A, is being used with great success in Africa, with only two new cases in a previously meningitis-ravaged area, according to a speaker here.
Since September, approximately 19.5 million people have received MenAfriVac, the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine developed through the Meningitis Vaccine Project. Pharmacovigilance activities conducted thus far in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — the three countries that introduced the vaccine at large scale — indicate that MenAfriVac is safe.
The vaccine works against a strain that causes most of the cases on the continent, according to Nancy Messonnier, MD, of the Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. At a cost of about 40 cents a dose, the vaccine is being heralded by many as providing new hope to protect the lives of thousands. Messonnier said there is a major epidemic of meningitis in Africa, typically every 8 to 10 years, and these epidemics can affect about 1% of the entire population of Africa.
“Twenty-five percent of these people die, and many are left with long-term effects, including mental disabilities, deafness and loss of limbs,” she said.
Messonnier said the newer vaccine confers long-term immunity. The vaccine relies on a technology that was developed by FDA researchers and donated by the US government. It is being manufactured in India.
Pending adequate funding, the Meningitis Vaccine Project and its partners aim to vaccinate some 300 million people throughout the African “meningitis belt” by 2015, thereby ridding the region of a disease that has caused havoc for more than a century, Messonnier said.
For more information:
- Messonnier N. #25626.
Disclosure: Dr. Messonnier reports no relevant financial disclosures.