Nigeria is the first nation to receive a shipment of the new MenFive meningitis vaccine from the worldwide stockpile supported by the Vaccine Alliance, this delivery was made by the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the thin membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, and is spread from person to person by respiratory and throat secretions. According to the World Health Organization, the illness can be brought on by fungus, viruses, or parasites and is known to result in death, brain damage, seizures, limb loss, and hearing loss.
The 26-country African meningitis belt, which includes the northern region of Nigeria, extends from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. In these countries, meningitis is seasonal, peaking in March and April due to persistently low air humidity and high dust loads that are thought to harm the pharyngeal mucosa and facilitate meningococci’s colonization of the nasopharyngeal epithelium. Meningitis is most common during the dry season (December through June).
Meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, Y, and X are the five primary serogroups of meningococcal meningitis that affect Africa. The vaccination offers protection against these serogroups. It offers the only serogroup X protection vaccination.
“Outbreak response efforts in lower-income countries are supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which funds global stockpiles of vaccinations against yellow fever, cholera, Ebola, meningitis, and meningitis.
The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision of the World Health Organization oversees country requests for these stockpiles. “In response to Nigeria’s request, the ICG approved the deployment of 1,043,377 doses of MenFive.” Speaking about the achievements, Dr. Tokunbo Oshin, Director of High Impact Countries at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, stated: “New innovations like MenFive are critical in helping us fight back as infectious disease outbreaks are on the rise worldwide.”
Gavi will be collaborating closely with the Nigerian government in addition to our partners, UNICEF and WHO.” Gavi went on to say that this first shipment marks the beginning of its support for a multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine program. This program will involve the distribution of the MenFive vaccine through routine immunization, catch-up campaigns in high-risk countries, and outbreak response.