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PrintMeningitis cases dramatically down - West Africa
The roll-out of a revolutionary meningitis vaccination in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has dramatically cut transmission rates, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and if each country can find sufficient funds to co-finance the campaign, it will be extended to all 25 countries in the Africa meningitis belt by 2016, says the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).
In the 2010-2011 meningitis season, Burkina Faso has confirmed just four cases of meningitis A; Niger has reported four cases; and Mali none, according to WHO.
While in Burkina Faso everyone in the 1-29 age group was vaccinated – representing 70 percent of the population – Mali and Niger are doing phased roll-outs over a longer period.
Group A meningitis causes deadly epidemics every 8-10 years in the Africa meningitis belt, where 430 million people are said to be at risk, according to WHO. Meningitis is an infection of the brain lining that kills up to 10 percent of people who contract it.
Residents of Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou told IRIN they were surprised by the results. “Even though we were vaccinating our children we did not believe it would be this effective,” said Alexis Kabore, whose daughter contracted meningitis in 2004, leaving her paralyzed. “We have not heard the same [mourning] cries that we are used to hearing during the meningitis season,” he said.
