What is the extent of meningococcal meningitis in Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa has been experiencing explosive and repeated meningococcal epidemics for more than a hundred years. Group A meningococcus is the main cause of meningitis epidemics and accounts for an estimated 80% to 85% of all cases. These deadly epidemics occur at intervals of 7–14 years in the 25 countries of the “meningitis belt,” a strip of land that extends from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. Around 450 million people in this area are at risk of disease. More than one million cases of meningitis have been reported in Africa since 1988. In 1996-1997, the largest epidemic wave ever recorded swept across Africa, causing more than 250 000 cases and 25 000 deaths.
