Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out a
new vaccine – Men5CV – recommended by the World Health
Organisation (WHO), to protect people against meningitis.
The world health body, in a statement on Friday, said that the
vaccine would protect people against five strains of
meningococcus bacteria, and described Nigeria’s feat as
historic.
It said that health workers would begin an immunisation
campaign aimed at reaching one million people.
The statement said that the vaccine and emergency
vaccination activities are funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance,
which funds the global meningitis vaccine stockpile and
supports lower-income countries with routine vaccination
against meningitis.
According to the WHO, Nigeria is one of the 26 meningitis
hyper-endemic countries of Africa, situated in the area known
as the African Meningitis Belt.
It noted that in 2023, there was a 50 per cent jump in annual
meningitis cases reported across Africa.
“In Nigeria, an outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis
(meningococcus) serogroup C outbreak, led to 1,742
suspected meningitis cases, including 101 confirmed cases
and 153 deaths in seven of 36 Nigerian states, between
October 2023 and March 2024.
The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina,
Yobe, Zamfara.
“To quell the deadly outbreak, a vaccination campaign was
undertaken on 25–28 March 2024 to initially reach more than
one million people aged 1-29 years,” it said.
The statement noted that meningitis was a serious infection
that leads to the inflammation of the membranes (meninges),
that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
“There are multiple causes of meningitis, including viral,
bacterial, fungal and parasitic pathogens.
“Symptoms often include headache, fever and stiff neck.
Bacterial meningitis is the most serious, and can also result in
septicaemia (blood poisoning). It can seriously disable or kill
within 24 hours,” the statement added.
It quoted Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, as
saying that meningitis was an old and deadly foe, adding that
the new vaccine holds the potential to change the trajectory of
the disease, preventing future outbreaks and saving many
lives.
“Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal of
eliminating meningitis by 2030,” Ghebreyesus said.
He said that the revolutionary new vaccine offers a powerful
shield against the five major strains of the meningococcal
bacteria – A, C, W, Y and X – in a single shot.
All five strains cause meningitis and blood poisoning.
According to him, this provides broader protection than the
current vaccine used in much of Africa, which is only effective
against the A strain.
He said that the new vaccine has the potential to significantly
reduce meningitis cases and advance progress in defeating
meningitis.
“This is especially important for countries like Nigeria where
multiple serogroups are prevalent.
“The new vaccine uses the same technology as the meningitis
A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which wiped out
meningococcal A epidemics in Nigeria,” the WHO boss said.
The statement quoted Prof. Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s
Minister of Health and Social Welfare, as saying that Northern
Nigeria, particularly the states of Jigawa, Bauchi and Yobe,
were badly hit by the deadly outbreak of meningitis.
“This vaccine provides health workers with a new tool to both
stop this outbreak and also put the country on a path to
elimination,” Pate said.
According to him, Nigeria has done a lot of work preparing
health workers and the health system for the rollout of the new
vaccine. (NAN)

https://dailytrust.com/nigeria-first-to-introduce-new-vaccine-against-meningitis-who/

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If you know what's good for yourself ..... stay clear of new vaccines promoted by WHO or any international organization. Ask yourself ... why don't they roll it out in their country?.... in a developed country? ... theybare always the ones suffering from these diseases unknown to us ... we are always the ones being used as "Guinea pigs". South African Blacks were used for almost every experimental vaccine .... but with Melema there now... it is a problem so they have shifted to us ... with our colonized minds ... whatever comes from the White man is good .... and Tinubu welcomes this. Bill Gates was up and down Africa like a God... philanthropist.... cared about Africans... all the while experimenting with various vaccines.... where is he now? COVID-19 .... same... now the effects are showing up... people are dying .... the promoters are silent ... dead silent. Africa wake up .... Senegal .... Mali ... Burkina Faso... Niger .... with South Africa leading the way .... wake up and stop being used and exploited and used for experiment .... do not take the vaccines.