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Meningitis

You are viewing all content tagged Meningitis.  You can also read an overview of MSF's work with Meningitis.

May 15, 2009

West Africa: Major Meningitis Epidemic Nears End

During the last four months, MSF teams in cooperation with the national health officials have been moving quickly, following the epidemic trend, to help treat tens of thousands of patients and to proceed swiftly on a massive vaccination campaign for 7.5 million people.

April 29, 2009

Nigeria: Meningitis Continues to Take a Toll

This year’s meningitis outbreak in northern Nigeria has already led to the deaths of over 1,500 people. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in cooperation with the Nigerian Ministry of Health, is carrying out a mass vaccination campaign as well as undertaking the very important task of treating the patients who are suffering from the disease.

April 29, 2009

West Africa Hit By Worst Meningitis Epidemic in Years

More than 1,900 people affected by meningitis have died since the beginning of this year in an area of sub-Saharan Africa known as the meningitis belt. In Nigeria, Niger and Chad alone, MSF medical teams have treated more than 56,000 sick patients. The organization is currently vaccinating a total population of more than seven million in the three countries, the biggest vaccination campaign MSF has ever carried out.

April 17, 2009

West Africa: MSF Targets 8 Million People in Meningitis Vaccination Campaign

Several countries in West Africa are facing a major meningitis epidemic. In Nigeria, this is the worst meningitis epidemic the country has experienced since 1996.

April 17, 2009

Niger: Treating Meningitis Patients in the Midst of a Vaccination Campaign

“It’s true that vaccinations stop the epidemic from spreading, but without emergency medical treatment for patients with meningitis, the number of lives lost would be catastrophic," says MSF doctor Nico Heijenberg.

April 1, 2009

MSF to Begin Meningitis Vaccination Campaign in West Africa

Meningitis, a disease responsible for thousands of deaths in Africa, is currently spreading in several West African countries. While ensuring quick access to treatment for those already infected, MSF is also starting mass vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Niger and is closely following the situation in other countries in the region. MSF is planning to vaccinate between 4 million and 5 million people against meningitis.

March 6, 2009

Darfur: MSF Forced to Leave in the Midst of a Meningitis Epidemic

This expulsion has serious medical and humanitarian consequences for the population of Darfur, one of which is that the outbreaks of meningitis in Kalma camp and at the base of Jebel Marra mountain range will possibly go without a medical response.

December 1, 2008 | Press Release

Fractional Dose of Scarce Meningitis Vaccine May Be Effective in Outbreak Control

New York, New York, December 1, 2008—A partial dose of a commonly used vaccine against meningitis may be as effective as a full dose, according to newly published research in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Fractional dosing would enable large-scale vaccination campaigns during epidemics, especially at a time of global vaccine shortages.

June 9, 2008

Niger: MSF Concludes Emergency Response to Meningitis Epidemic

At the beginning of May, at the request of the health ministry of Niger, MSF provided backup assistance for a meningitis epidemic in the Dosso region. Here, Issiaka Abdou, MSF emergency co-ordinator, talks about the operation.

May 23, 2008

Niger: MSF Vaccinates 300,000 Against Meningitis

In Niger, a meningitis mass-vaccination campaign launched by MSF, in cooperation with the local Ministry of Health (MoH), has ended. The aim was to prevent a large-scale epidemic after a number of cases had been reported in late March. More than 300,000 people were vaccinated in 20 days with positive results—the spread of the epidemic was stemmed.

April 5, 2007

MSF Responds to Outbreaks across Africa's "Meningitis Belt"

MSF has been quick to respond to meningitis epidemics in several countries in Africa's "meningitis belt." In the four countries–Burkina Faso, Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC-where the epidemic threshold has been reached MSF's first response was to evaluate the outbreak, identify the strain of meningitis, and treat people infected with the disease.

March 26, 2007

Meningitis & Cholera in Southern Sudan

Southern Sudan has paid one of the highest prices among countries affected by meningitis this year. Several teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) are caring for those affected by the deadly epidemic and vaccinating the population at risk throughout a number of states in the region. To make matters worse, cholera is quickly progressing in a number of areas.

March 23, 2007

Meningitis Epidemic in Burkina Faso Still Spreading

New York, Ouagadougou, March 23, 2007 – The meningitis epidemic that emerged in Burkina Faso at the end of February continues to spread. The most recent statistics issued by the health authorities in mid March show 801 deaths and 10,796 suspected cases since the beginning of the year. While two-thirds of the country is in an epidemic phase or on alert, the capital, Ouagadougou, is affected. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), already assisting hospitalized patients in the capital, is now stepping up its response. A cargo plane carrying vaccines for 540,000 people arrived on Saturday, March 17 with the necessary cold chain equipment, and MSF meningitis specialists are present in the county.

March 14, 2007

Juba, Sudan: A Day of Meningitis Vaccinations in Juba

MSF began a meningitis vaccination campaign in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, on March 14, vaccinating the population at risk in three health zones in the capital city. Approximately 160,000 people between the ages of 2 and 30 will be vaccinated. Below is a synopsis of the second day of vaccinations, March 15, from one of the 12 sites.

March 13, 2007

Over 1.5 Million to be Immunized against Meningitis

During the past weeks, teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) assisted in the vaccination of over 860,000 people against meningitis, a contagious and potentially fatal infection of the brain membrane.

February 28, 2007

MSF Concludes Mass Meningitis-Vaccination Campaign in West Nile, Uganda

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has completed a mass meningitis-vaccination campaign in two districts of the West Nile region of Uganda, supervising the vaccination of 291,000 people and assisting with the vaccination of 333,000 more.

February 16, 2007

MSF Responds to Meningitis Epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo

In the coming days, a 52-person team will vaccinate everyone from 2 to 30 years of age in the Adi health zone, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dr. Alena Koscalova has been one of the medical coordinators for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the DRC for more than two years. She is currently in charge of the meningitis vaccination campaign and answers our questions about the effort.

February 15, 2007

Limited Vaccine Supply Threatens Response to Meningitis Epidemics

Barely two months into Africa's dry season, there are several countries facing severe outbreaks of meningitis. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is already responding to epidemics in the Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, and northern Uganda.

February 14, 2007

MSF Responds to Meningitis Epidemic in the West Nile region of Northern Uganda

Since the first cases of meningococcal meningitis A were confirmed in two districts of the West Nile region of northern Uganda in early January, MSF has been working closely with the Ugandan Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce mortality, minimize the spread of the epidemic, and strengthen the epidemiological-surveillance system.

April 24, 2006

"The epidemic has started" - Responding to a Meningitis Outbreak in Southern Sudan

Dr. Jean-Paul Delain, a 53-year-old pulmonary specialist from Avignon, France, arrived in the village of Akuem, in Sudan's Bahr el Ghazal State, at the end of March to evaluate whether the area was in the midst of a meningitis outbreak.

March 1, 2006

MSF Launches Large-Scale Vaccination Campaign in Response to Meningitis Epidemic

On February 27, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched a massive meningitis vaccination campaign in the Maradi region of Niger. Five hundred thousand people are expected to be vaccinated initially. MSF teams are also treating people who have already contracted this highly-contagious infectious disease.

February 12, 2006

MSF Responds to Meningitis Outbreak in Southern Ethiopia

Cases of meningitis were reported during the first week of January in the Welayita region of the Kendo Kocha and Bolo Sore woredas (administrative units), in southern Ethiopia.

January 28, 2005 | Press Release

Meningitis Outbreak in Eastern Chad Among Refugees from Darfur

Abeche, Chad, 28 January 2005 - The international medical humanitarian aid organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is launching a meningitis vaccination campaign in eastern Chad, following a recent outbreak among refugees from Sudan's Darfur region. The campaign is aimed at protecting thousands of people in the area from the highly infectious disease, which is particularly threatening in the overcrowded camps.

March 1, 2004

Meningitis Fact Sheet

March 3, 1999 | Press Release

Meningitis Spreading Rapidly in Sudan