By: Modupe Adeniyi. Freelance Health Reporter
Nigeria becomes the first country to receive doses of the groundbreaking MenFive vaccine, a major milestone in combating meningitis across Africa's meningitis belt.
Nigeria has become the first country to receive doses of the newly developed MenFive meningitis vaccine, marking a major milestone in efforts to combat the deadly disease across the African meningitis belt region.
A shipment of over 1 million doses of the innovative MenFive vaccine arrived in Nigeria this week from the global stockpile funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The doses will be used to vaccinate around 1 million children in 6 local government areas of Jigawa state in response to an ongoing outbreak of meningococcus C.
Meningitis is a life-threatening bacterial infection that inflames the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The disease can lead to brain damage, hearing loss, seizures and even death.
As Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, explains: "Meningitis outbreaks can be devastating for communities across Africa's meningitis belt. This new vaccine arrival represents a pivotal moment in our efforts to get ahead of these deadly epidemics."
The African meningitis belt, a region stretching from Senegal to Ethiopia, is prone to large, cyclical outbreaks during the dry season from December to June when low humidity and dust loads damage mucosal defenses.
The new MenFive vaccine provides protection against the five main serogroups of meningococcal meningitis impacting Africa - A, C, W, Y and the highly virulent X. Crucially, it is currently the only vaccine offering protection against serogroup X.
"With infectious disease outbreaks on the rise worldwide, groundbreaking innovations like MenFive are critical weapons in our arsenal for fighting back," said Dr. Tokunbo Oshin of Gavi. "We now have a powerful new tool to respond to meningococcal serogroups still causing devastating outbreaks, lifelong disabilities and deaths."
Gavi has made impressive strides in eliminating meningitis A epidemics across Africa through vaccination campaigns reaching nearly 400 million children since 2010. However, other serogroups like C, W, X and Y continued triggering cyclical outbreaks.
The rollout of MenFive through outbreak response, routine immunization programs and targeted vaccination campaigns in high-risk countries opens a pivotal pathway to conquering these remaining meningococcal meningitis threats.
"This first arrival of MenFive doses signals the start of expanded efforts to bring this lifesaving vaccine to vulnerable communities across the meningitis belt," said Berkley. "It's a major step forward in the long fight against these cyclical epidemics that have claimed far too many lives.”
Related: Cerebrospinal meningitis outbreak in Nigeria
Published: March 8, 2024
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