Ouagadougou, 9 October 2007 -- The meningitis season from December 2006 to May 2007 saw an estimated 53,000 cases of meningitis, with an estimated 4,000 deaths, across the African Meningitis Belt. This was the highest number of cases and deaths since the 2001 meningitis season. To fight last season's epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners marshalled 7 million doses of vaccine to protect 400 million people across the 21 countries of the Belt.

After those campaigns, however, only 8.1 million doses of vaccine remain. And, if the number of meningitis cases continues to rise next year, that could mean that as many as 80 million people would need to be vaccinated.

"If we do not procure at least 12 million doses of vaccine, we could be looking at a meningitis crisis across large parts of Africa in the coming years," said Dr Adamou Yada, Head of the Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response for WHO's Africa Region. "We could see 400 million people across 21 countries at risk of contracting and dying from the disease. In a large epidemic, we would need to vaccinate up to 80 million people to protect all the people across the Belt."

To prevent such a crisis from occurring, WHO is convening an urgent donor's meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 8 October. WHO will ask donors to pledge $13.8 million, enough to buy 12 million doses of vaccine.

"Bacterial meningitis is always a medical emergency that must be managed immediately. We have seen how many people died last year in Africa from the disease. The good news, however, is that we have a highly effective, relatively inexpensive vaccine that protects people very well against the infection. But we need donors to help us buy enough," said Dr Yada.

The sought-after vaccine would constitute an emergency stockpile to prevent and/or respond to epidemic outbreaks. In the 1996-97 meningitis season, the largest epidemic of recent years caused 25,000 deaths. Besides buying 12 million doses of vaccine, the $13.8 million would pay for injection materials; transport, storage and insurance costs; administrative fees associated with procurement; and strengthened surveillance and lab diagnosis.

Bacterial meningitis infection by Neisseria meningitis (Nm), is a contagious disease that causes inflammation of the membranes enveloping the brain and the spinal cord.

At time when WHO is expecting a large scale epidemic, a vaccine shortage has become a huge concern.

The available supply of polysaccharide (PS) vaccine is only 8.1 million doses of bivalent AC and 0.9 million doses of trivalent ACW 135 vaccine, while the production of PS vaccine for the 2008 season is not expected to be higher than 25 million doses .

 Unless WHO and its partners have the money in hand to pay for additional production, the situation could take a dramatic turn. If, as forecast, an epidemic wave does strike the region, at least 80 million people could require immunization and the current and forecasted available supply would be insufficient to cover the population at risk.

"WHO is extremely concerned about the severe public health implications of a meningitis vaccine shortage," added Dr Yada.