In the world’s historical feat, Nigeria has rolled out a new vaccine – Men5CV – recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to protect people against meningitis, becoming the first country in the world to produce the vaccine.
The Informant247 gathered, according to the world health body, in a statement on Friday, that the vaccine would protect people against five strains of meningococcus bacteria, adding that the health workers would begin an immunisation campaign to reach one million people.
Funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which funds the global meningitis vaccine stockpile and supports lower-income countries with routine vaccination against meningitis, Nigeria is one of the 26 meningitis hyper-endemic countries of Africa, situated in the area known as the African Meningitis Belt.
“In Nigeria, an outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) serogroup C outbreak, led to 1,742 suspected meningitis cases, including 101 confirmed cases and 153 deaths in seven of 36 Nigerian states, between October 2023 and March 2024.
The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara.
“To quell the deadly outbreak, a vaccination campaign was undertaken on 25–28 March 2024 to initially reach more than one million people aged 1-29 years,” it said.
The statement noted that meningitis was a severe infection that leads to the inflammation of the membranes (meninges) that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
“There are multiple causes of meningitis, including viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic pathogens.
“Symptoms often include headache, fever and stiff neck. Bacterial meningitis is the most serious and can result in septicaemia (blood poisoning). It can seriously disable or kill within 24 hours,” the statement added.
It quoted Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, as saying that meningitis was an old and deadly foe, adding that the new vaccine can change the trajectory of the disease, preventing future outbreaks and saving many lives.
“Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal of eliminating meningitis by 2030,” Ghebreyesus said.
He said the revolutionary new vaccine offers a powerful shield against the five major strains of the meningococcal bacteria – A, C, W, Y and X – in a single shot.
All five strains cause meningitis and blood poisoning.
According to him, this provides broader protection than the current vaccine used in much of Africa, which is only effective against the A strain.
“This is especially important for countries like Nigeria, where multiple serogroups are prevalent.
“The new vaccine uses the same technology as the meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which wiped out meningococcal A epidemics in Nigeria,” the WHO boss said.
The statement quoted Prof. Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, saying that Northern Nigeria, particularly the states of Jigawa, Bauchi and Yobe, were severely hit by the deadly meningitis outbreak.
“This vaccine provides health workers with a new tool to both stop this outbreak and also put the country on a path to elimination,” Pate said.
NAN