Nigeria : 124 deaths from meningitis124 meningitis

These are the death figures for the disease, given by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control on 02 May 2023.

Divine KANANYET/ who.int

Nigeria has been facing a meningitis
epidemic since the beginning
of 2023. Figures released by the country’s Centre for Disease Control show 124 deaths. According
to the Nigerian CDC, in the last week of April, Nigeria had 297 cases of meningitis,
including 6 deaths. According to WHO, from 1 October 2022 to 16 April 2023, a total of 1,686 suspected cases, 532 confirmed
cases and 124 deaths with a case fatality rate of : 7% were reported from 81 local government areas (LGAs) in 22 of the 36 administrative states, including the federal government. The highest proportion
of reported cases are among children aged 1-15 years. WHO reports that a total of 481 cerebrospinal fluid samples have been collected from patients in 18 states. Of these samples, 247 tested positive for bacterial infection by PCR test. Of the positive cases, 226 (91%) were caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NmC), while 13 cases (5.4%) were caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, and only one case (0.4%) by Haemophilus influenzae. In 232 cases the result was negative and in two cases the result is pending. In the last five weeks alone (epidemiological weeks 11 to 15), 41 of the 140 samples tested (29%) were positive for NmC. Confirmed cases were reported from eight states, including Jigawa (231), Zamfara (six), Yobe (five), Benue (one), Gombe (one), Katsina (one), Oyo (one) and Sokoto (one).
Meningitis is a serious infection of the meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. According to the WHO, it is a devastating disease that remains a major public health challenge.
It can be caused by many different pathogens, including bacteria, fungi or viruses, but the highest global burden is seen with bacterial meningitis. Response measures implemented during an epidemic,
including improved case finding and management and mass vaccination campaigns,
help to control the epidemic. For example, with support from WHO, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is implementing national
response measures. These include daily coordination meetings held at state and LGA level since December 2022; surveillance
activities with rapid response teams continuing active case finding as well as case management activities at public
health centres in the affected LGAs to name a few.
Routine immunisation
The Nigerian government is committed to achieving the global goal of defeating the disease by 2030. The country has implemented interventions to control meningitis, including the introduction of the meningococcal A (MenA) conjugate vaccine against NMA from 2011 to 2022. Through preventive campaigns, Nigeria has vaccinated over 100 million people aged 1-29 years, and the vaccine has been included in the country’s routine immunisation
schedule since 2019. Among MenA-vaccinated populations in meningitis belt countries, the incidence of serogroup A meningitis has decreased by more than 99% and no serogroup A cases have been confirmed since 2017. However, there are still annual reports of meningitis cases in the country that are mainly associated with meningococcal serogroup C (NmC).