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                WHO OKs Use of Meningitis A Vaccine for Infants

   by Jessica Berman

   The World Health Organization has given the go-ahead for a meningitis A
   vaccine to be used in infants younger than a year old in Africa.

   The vaccine, [1]MenAfriVac, has been highly effective since its
   introduction four years ago in protecting children and adults ages 1 to
   29.

   The inexpensive, safe vaccine has been administered to more than 215
   million people in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa's so-called
   meningitis belt, where the disease occurs regularly in an area between
   Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east.

   The countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote
   d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal,
   Sudan, Togo and Gambia.

   One of the most devastating outbreaks occurred in 1996-97, when an
   epidemic of meningitis A infected a quarter-million people and killed
   25,000 in a few months.

   But since the widespread use of MenAfriVac in 2010, there has been a
   dramatic decrease in the number of cases and it confers "community"
   immunity among unvaccinated groups.

   In 2012, there was a 90 percent drop in the incidence and transmission
   of meningitis A in [2]Chad.

   Meningitis A causes high fever and severe headache, along with vomiting
   and nausea, seizures, sleepiness and sensitivity to light.

   It is thought that giving the drug to infants as part of a routine
   vaccination schedule will further reduce the number of meningitis
   outbreaks.

   The low-cost MenAfriVac was developed by a partnership between the
   nonprofit Meningitis Vaccine Project and Serum Institute of India.
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   [3]http://www.voanews.com/content/who-approves-menintitis-vaccine-infan
   ts/2591428.html

References

   1. http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/events/menafrivac_video/en/
   2. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2961612-8/fulltext
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/who-approves-menintitis-vaccine-infants/2591428.html