American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Impact of the Meningococcal A Conjugate Vaccine Introduction in the African Meningitis Belt, 2010-2017

Received: 08 July 2019    Accepted: 30 July 2019    Published: 16 August 2019
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Abstract

Meningococcal meningitis remains a burden in the African meningitis belt. Before 2010, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (N. meningitidis A) was the predominant pathogen causing deathly epidemics. The meningococcal A conjugate vaccine (MACV, MenAfrivac®) protects against N. meningitidis A. It was introduced in 2010 into highest meningitis risk health districts. There was limited data on the effects of MACV, mainly on the degree of relationship between N. meningitidis A and the MACV immunization coverage. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the effectiveness of MACV from 2010 to 2017 in 21 out of 26 countries of the African meningitis belt. An interrupted time series design and nonprobability sampling were used. Secondary data issued from meningitis enhanced surveillance were retrieved from World Health Organization database. The social ecological model was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The binomial negative regression and Pearson’s Chi-Square tests were used. The study found that after the MACV introduction there were a high degree of relationship between N. meningitidis A and MACV immunization coverage (χ2 (1) = 11039.49, p = 0.000, Phi = 0.657, P=0.000), 99% decline of the risk of N. meningitidis A (RR 0.01, 95% CI 0.08-0.013), and 99.6% decline of risk of epidemic due to N. meningitidis A (RR 0.004, 95% CI 0.001-0.016). The study demonstrated that high MACV coverage and high-quality meningitis surveillance were pivotal to reduce the burden of meningococcal meningitis A epidemic in African meningitis belt. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to development and manufacture an affordable multivalent polysaccharide conjugate vaccine against N. meningitis (A, C, W135, X, Y) and introduce in meningitis belt countries to eliminate meningococcal meningitis in Africa, to update the risk assessment of the meningitis status of Africa meningitis belt after the introduction of MenAfriVac®, to continue to improve meningitis enhanced surveillance, and improving public health policies on immunization and meningitis enhanced surveillance to ensure sustainable high immunization coverage of meningococcal vaccines and high quality of meningitis epidemic detection.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13
Published in American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 4, August 2019)
Page(s) 84-92
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Meningococcal Meningitis A, Epidemic, Meningococcal a Conjugate Vaccine, African Meningitis Belt, Neisseria Meningitidis A

References
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    Andre Arsene Bita Fouda. (2019). Impact of the Meningococcal A Conjugate Vaccine Introduction in the African Meningitis Belt, 2010-2017. American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences, 7(4), 84-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13

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    Andre Arsene Bita Fouda. Impact of the Meningococcal A Conjugate Vaccine Introduction in the African Meningitis Belt, 2010-2017. Am. J. Biomed. Life Sci. 2019, 7(4), 84-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13

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    Andre Arsene Bita Fouda. Impact of the Meningococcal A Conjugate Vaccine Introduction in the African Meningitis Belt, 2010-2017. Am J Biomed Life Sci. 2019;7(4):84-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13,
      author = {Andre Arsene Bita Fouda},
      title = {Impact of the Meningococcal A Conjugate Vaccine Introduction in the African Meningitis Belt, 2010-2017},
      journal = {American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {84-92},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbls.20190704.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbls.20190704.13},
      abstract = {Meningococcal meningitis remains a burden in the African meningitis belt. Before 2010, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (N. meningitidis A) was the predominant pathogen causing deathly epidemics. The meningococcal A conjugate vaccine (MACV, MenAfrivac®) protects against N. meningitidis A. It was introduced in 2010 into highest meningitis risk health districts. There was limited data on the effects of MACV, mainly on the degree of relationship between N. meningitidis A and the MACV immunization coverage. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the effectiveness of MACV from 2010 to 2017 in 21 out of 26 countries of the African meningitis belt. An interrupted time series design and nonprobability sampling were used. Secondary data issued from meningitis enhanced surveillance were retrieved from World Health Organization database. The social ecological model was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The binomial negative regression and Pearson’s Chi-Square tests were used. The study found that after the MACV introduction there were a high degree of relationship between N. meningitidis A and MACV immunization coverage (χ2 (1) = 11039.49, p = 0.000, Phi = 0.657, P=0.000), 99% decline of the risk of N. meningitidis A (RR 0.01, 95% CI 0.08-0.013), and 99.6% decline of risk of epidemic due to N. meningitidis A (RR 0.004, 95% CI 0.001-0.016). The study demonstrated that high MACV coverage and high-quality meningitis surveillance were pivotal to reduce the burden of meningococcal meningitis A epidemic in African meningitis belt. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to development and manufacture an affordable multivalent polysaccharide conjugate vaccine against N. meningitis (A, C, W135, X, Y) and introduce in meningitis belt countries to eliminate meningococcal meningitis in Africa, to update the risk assessment of the meningitis status of Africa meningitis belt after the introduction of MenAfriVac®, to continue to improve meningitis enhanced surveillance, and improving public health policies on immunization and meningitis enhanced surveillance to ensure sustainable high immunization coverage of meningococcal vaccines and high quality of meningitis epidemic detection.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    T1  - Impact of the Meningococcal A Conjugate Vaccine Introduction in the African Meningitis Belt, 2010-2017
    AU  - Andre Arsene Bita Fouda
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    T2  - American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences
    JF  - American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences
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    AB  - Meningococcal meningitis remains a burden in the African meningitis belt. Before 2010, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (N. meningitidis A) was the predominant pathogen causing deathly epidemics. The meningococcal A conjugate vaccine (MACV, MenAfrivac®) protects against N. meningitidis A. It was introduced in 2010 into highest meningitis risk health districts. There was limited data on the effects of MACV, mainly on the degree of relationship between N. meningitidis A and the MACV immunization coverage. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the effectiveness of MACV from 2010 to 2017 in 21 out of 26 countries of the African meningitis belt. An interrupted time series design and nonprobability sampling were used. Secondary data issued from meningitis enhanced surveillance were retrieved from World Health Organization database. The social ecological model was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The binomial negative regression and Pearson’s Chi-Square tests were used. The study found that after the MACV introduction there were a high degree of relationship between N. meningitidis A and MACV immunization coverage (χ2 (1) = 11039.49, p = 0.000, Phi = 0.657, P=0.000), 99% decline of the risk of N. meningitidis A (RR 0.01, 95% CI 0.08-0.013), and 99.6% decline of risk of epidemic due to N. meningitidis A (RR 0.004, 95% CI 0.001-0.016). The study demonstrated that high MACV coverage and high-quality meningitis surveillance were pivotal to reduce the burden of meningococcal meningitis A epidemic in African meningitis belt. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to development and manufacture an affordable multivalent polysaccharide conjugate vaccine against N. meningitis (A, C, W135, X, Y) and introduce in meningitis belt countries to eliminate meningococcal meningitis in Africa, to update the risk assessment of the meningitis status of Africa meningitis belt after the introduction of MenAfriVac®, to continue to improve meningitis enhanced surveillance, and improving public health policies on immunization and meningitis enhanced surveillance to ensure sustainable high immunization coverage of meningococcal vaccines and high quality of meningitis epidemic detection.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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