Rollout of the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine in the African meningitis belt countries from 2010 to 2023: progress, challenges, and future directions

Résumé fourni par la source

Introduction: meningitis epidemics remain a burden in the African meningitis belt. The objective of this study was to update the status of introduction of meningococcal A conjugate vaccine (MenACV) in the African meningitis belt from 2010 to 2023. Methods: a prospective study was carried out in the meningitis belt countries from 2010 to 2023. Number of people vaccinated and immunization coverage were collected from WHO/UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage databases and country reports. Results: from 2010 to 2023, over 358 million persons aged 1-29 years old in 24 of 26 meningitis belt countries received MenACV through preventive mass vaccination campaigns (289,975,486), and preventive catch-up mass vaccination campaigns (68,403,528) for birth cohorts of children aged 1-15 years. The 24 countries that rolled out MenACV campaigns are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. Concerning routine immunization, an estimated 56.4% (49,700,165) children aged 9 to 18 months were vaccinated from 2016 to 2023 in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and Togo. Conclusion: rom 2010 to 2023, over 408 million people aged 9 months to 29 years old have been vaccinated with MenACV in 24 out of countries of the 26 African meningitis belt through vaccination campaigns and routine immunization and the vaccine has been introduced into the routine immunization program in 15 countries.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.