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Health: Burkina Faso is preparing to face a possible epidemic of meningitis
Home > News > Society • LEFASO.NET • Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:47 p.m.
The Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene held this Thursday, February 2, 2023, an information and discussion meeting with journalists on meningitis. This meeting follows the communication of the Minister of Health in the Council of Ministers of January 18, 2023 where he mentioned the plan of preparation and response to a possible epidemic of meningitis in Burkina.
Thanks to all the interventions of the Ministry of Health (vaccination campaigns, introduction of the MenAfriVac vaccine into the expanded routine vaccination program since 2017, surveillance, etc.), Burkina Faso is experiencing a drastic drop in meningitis cases. The case fatality rate for meningitis is thus constantly falling and fell from 14.47% in 2010 to 4.9% in 2022. Despite these encouraging results, the fact remains that Burkina Faso continues to face to cases of meningitis since the country is in the "meningitis belt". From January 1 to 29, 2023, the country has already recorded 145 suspected cases of meningitis, including six deaths.
According to Dr Drissa Lengane, faced with the increase in rare epidemiogenic germs (NmC and NmX) and the influence of covid-19 on the surveillance of other diseases, the risk of a meningitis epidemic occurring in Burkina Faso cannot be excluded with certainty.
It is therefore with a view to preparing to deal with a possible epidemic that the government adopted on January 18, 2023 in the Council of Ministers, a preparedness and response plan. This preparedness and response plan is all the more necessary as the security situation disrupts the health system and affects the fight against potentially epidemic diseases. According to a study conducted by the Global Health Security project implemented by Jhpiego, in areas affected by insecurity, there has been an increase in the number of meningitis cases since 2018 compared to previous years when there were no there was no security problem.
Journalists were asked to give the right information
As part of the preparation for the response, other activities are also carried out such as the broadcasting of key messages on local radio and television, the supervision of health workers on integrated disease surveillance and the response, the pre-positioning drugs and medical consumables for the management of the disease, the implementation of an integrated sample transport system, the performance of epidemiological investigations, etc.
Protect yourself or get vaccinated to avoid meningitis
The meningitis epidemic season extends from October to April during the harmattan period. During this period, it is therefore advisable to protect yourself by wearing a mask, using shea butter. It is also necessary to be vaccinated and to vaccinate children to avoid the disease. It is free for children and is integrated into the extended vaccination programme. It should be noted that the management of meningitis is free in public health facilities in the country.
Justine Bonkoungou
Lefaso.net
https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article119217
Health: Burkina Faso is preparing to face a possible epidemic of meningitis
Home > News > Society • LEFASO.NET • Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:47 p.m.
The Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene held this Thursday, February 2, 2023, an information and discussion meeting with journalists on meningitis. This meeting follows the communication of the Minister of Health in the Council of Ministers of January 18, 2023 where he mentioned the plan of preparation and response to a possible epidemic of meningitis in Burkina.
Thanks to all the interventions of the Ministry of Health (vaccination campaigns, introduction of the MenAfriVac vaccine into the expanded routine vaccination program since 2017, surveillance, etc.), Burkina Faso is experiencing a drastic drop in meningitis cases. The case fatality rate for meningitis is thus constantly falling and fell from 14.47% in 2010 to 4.9% in 2022. Despite these encouraging results, the fact remains that Burkina Faso continues to face to cases of meningitis since the country is in the "meningitis belt". From January 1 to 29, 2023, the country has already recorded 145 suspected cases of meningitis, including six deaths.
According to Dr Drissa Lengane, faced with the increase in rare epidemiogenic germs (NmC and NmX) and the influence of covid-19 on the surveillance of other diseases, the risk of a meningitis epidemic occurring in Burkina Faso cannot be excluded with certainty.
It is therefore with a view to preparing to deal with a possible epidemic that the government adopted on January 18, 2023 in the Council of Ministers, a preparedness and response plan. This preparedness and response plan is all the more necessary as the security situation disrupts the health system and affects the fight against potentially epidemic diseases. According to a study conducted by the Global Health Security project implemented by Jhpiego, in areas affected by insecurity, there has been an increase in the number of meningitis cases since 2018 compared to previous years when there were no there was no security problem.
Journalists were asked to give the right information
As part of the preparation for the response, other activities are also carried out such as the broadcasting of key messages on local radio and television, the supervision of health workers on integrated disease surveillance and the response, the pre-positioning drugs and medical consumables for the management of the disease, the implementation of an integrated sample transport system, the performance of epidemiological investigations, etc.
Protect yourself or get vaccinated to avoid meningitis
The meningitis epidemic season extends from October to April during the harmattan period. During this period, it is therefore advisable to protect yourself by wearing a mask, using shea butter. It is also necessary to be vaccinated and to vaccinate children to avoid the disease. It is free for children and is integrated into the extended vaccination programme. It should be noted that the management of meningitis is free in public health facilities in the country.
Justine Bonkoungou
Lefaso.net
https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article119217