New vaccine to prevent meningitis

Scientists have developed a new vaccine against meningitis A, an extremely dangerous form of human life. This new meningococcal vaccine can stop pandemics in hot spots like India and Africa.

This is the result of a vaccine against meningitis that is carried out in collaboration with WHO (World Health Organization), PATH (an international non-governmental organization) and Indian Serum Institute.

Large scale application

Experts estimate mass vaccination campaigns will target individuals aged 1 to 29 years. The new vaccine has just been tested for 600 toddlers in Mali and Gambia. It produces 20 times more antibodies than the currently used vaccine and has very few side effects.

A more intensive study will be conducted in India this summer, followed by a large-scale vaccination for 9 million people at risk of infection in Burkina Faso, Africa, 2008. If these tests are successful, authorities will bring the new vaccine to the rest of West Africa for about 40 cents (= $ 1/100) per dose.

But experts say it takes about 15 years for the vast majority of people at risk of infection in Africa to get vaccinated. Until then, it was still necessary to use the old vaccine to quell any outbreak of disease.

Long-term immunity

New research on meningococcal vaccine can protect 300 million people at risk of disease in West Africa (Photo: BBC)

Experts say the new vaccine could allow an individual to have immunity to meningitis within ten years and it would allow health authorities to stop the outbreak. disease by vaccination against the people.

Compared to this new type, existing vaccines do not have immunity for such a long time, so it is not possible to vaccinate people. Dr. Eric Bertherat, a WHO meningitis specialist, said: 'With the old vaccines, we have to wait until the disease happens to begin the vaccination campaign to prevent it from flaring. play. "

'That is very frustrating.' The price for vaccines that protect 300 million people at risk of disease in West Africa is estimated at $ 300 million. It costs nearly $ 30 million to spend every year on existing vaccines.

Preventing death threats

Dr. Orin Levine, a World Health Associate Professor at Jonhns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said: 'In today's global health conditions, this is a success to prevent disease one. easy way but less expensive '

Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, thin membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Even when treated with antibiotics, at least 10% of patients cannot withstand death, with the remaining 20% ​​suffering from permanent sequelae such as mental retardation, deafness and epilepsy. .

Among many cases of meningitis group A, B, C, group A causes lethal disease outbreak every 8 to 10 years mainly in Africa region called 'belt of meningitis ' , an area stretching from Senegal and Gambia in western Ethiopia in the East.

This belt has about 430 million people at risk. The largest pandemic in history has swept the entire area in 1996-1997, causing 250 cases and killing 25,000 people.

Minh Minh