Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The African meningitis belt is a region in sub-Saharan Africa where the rate of incidence of meningitis is very high. It extends from Senegal to Ethiopia, and the primary cause of meningitis in the belt is Neisseria meningitidis. The belt was first proposed by Léon Lapeyssonnie of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963.
In 2013, only four laboratory-confirmed cases of meningitis A were reported by the 26 countries in the meningitis belt. But scientists warned that unless countries within the belt incorporate the meningitis A vaccine in routine immunization schedules for infants, there is a risk that the disease could rebound in 15 years' time.
Outbreaks of bacterial meningitis occur between December and June each year in an area of sub-Saharan Africa known as the meningitis belt. [13] Smaller outbreaks may also occur in other areas of the world. [13] The word meningitis comes from the Greek μῆνιγξ meninx, 'membrane', and the medical suffix -itis, 'inflammation'. [14] [15]
The 2009–2010 West African meningitis outbreak was an epidemic of bacterial meningitis which occurred in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria since January 2009, [1] [2] an annual risk in the African meningitis belt. A total of 13,516 people have been infected with meningitis, and 931 have died. [1]
The distribution of meningococcal meningitis in the African meningitis belt. The importance of meningitis disease is as significant in Africa as HIV, TB and malaria. Cases of meningococcemia leading to severe meningoencephalitis are common among young children and the elderly. Deaths occurring in less than 24 hours are more likely during the ...
In the African meningitis belt efforts to immunize all people between the ages of one and thirty with the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine are ongoing. [13] In Canada and the United States the vaccines are effective against four types of meningococcus (A, C, W, and Y) are recommended routinely for teenagers and others who are at high risk. [9]
NmVac4-A/C/Y/W-135 is the commercial name for a polysaccharide vaccine that protects against meningococcal meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis, specifically the serotypes A, C, Y, and W-135. This vaccine is part of a broader group of meningococcal vaccines .
Cryptococcal meningitis is also a major cause of death and disability worldwide, especially in areas where HIV and AIDS are more common, accounting for more than 100,000 yearly deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. [3] Cryptococcal meningitis accounts for about 68% of meningitis cases in those with HIV and has a mortality rate of 10-25%, with delays in ...