Stunning Success for Meningitis Vaccination

Dec-07-2015 0 comments Cube Biosystems

According to the WHO, epidemic meningitis is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, in what is termed the 'meningitis' belt, an area that stretches from Senegal and the Gambia in the West to Ethiopia in the East. The at risk population numbers approximately 430 million, with worst outbreak from 1996-1997 seeing over 250,000 cases and causing 25,000 deaths. Since the 1940's the outbreak cycles have been every 8-12 years, but the intervals are both decreasing and the belt seems to be extending further to the south.

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The African meningitis belt. Source: WHO

A coalition of partners developed the MenAfriVac© vaccine, which was developed specifically to protect from meningococcal A meningitis, the strain most destructive to communities in Africa's meningitis belt. Since 2010, 220 million people have been inoculated and the results have been no less than stunning -- the reported cases have plummeted to 0. In a recent report by The Economist, charting the success of the program, though, there may be reemergence issues on the horizon, if the vaccination does not become a routine childhood inoculation.