In late February global vaccine experts and officials from across Africa gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to celebrate one of the region’s biggest public health achievements: virtually obliterating meningitis A off the continent.
For a century meningococcal meningitis has swept across 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, killing and disabling people and placing huge burdens on families and health care systems.
While vaccines were previously available, they were marred by myriad issues: they could only be used once an epidemic had started; they didn’t protect young children or infants; and they only provided short-term protection.