The number of cases of meningitis in Niger is rising quickly as compared to the same time last year.
As of mid-April, the World Health Organization reported 2,012 cases and 123 deaths in the nation. In the first 16 weeks of the previous year, there were 72 deaths out of the 1,389 cases that were reported.
In Niamey, vaccination campaigns started in early May to stop meningitis’s spread. A lot of families were drawn in by the vaccination’s free nature.
The newly employed vaccination offers the benefit of shielding recipients against five strains, which are the primary causes of meningitis in Niger. “We started with the schools on Thursday and Friday, then on Saturday and Sunday we moved into the neighbourhoods. The population is coming and we’re doing it in a calm atmosphere, really, we haven’t had any problems so far,” nurse Abdou Mamou Siddo said.
In just four days, the mobile unit teams claim to have immunized 1,000 city residents. The vaccine being utilized is a single dose, in contrast to earlier ones. The age range for vaccinations is 1 to 19.
The Niamey region has had the most cumulative incidence proportion of cases this year, with 52.2 cases per 100,000 residents. After Niamey, Agadez and Dosso are most impacted. In the Sahelian nation, meningitis had claimed the lives of 143 individuals as of late April.
Sahabi Assoumane, a Niamey administrator, stated that additional health districts will be the focus. “Given the epidemic threshold was reached in 3 health districts, the ministry of public health and social affairs filed a request to the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision to ask for operational support. To respond to the epidemic, a vaccination campaign will be conducted in all 5 health districts of the region.”
