Meningitis kills 40, infects over 400

A meningitis outbreak in Ethiopia has claimed the lives of 40 people and infected more than 433, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told IRIN on Wednesday. Vivian Vansteirteghem, head of health and nutrition at UNICEF-Ethiopia said the country needed US $2.4 million to bridge a funding gap for vaccines and treatment. "For the moment they have vaccines and the treatment, but they just want to be prepared in case there is an increase in the population infected," she said. Meningitis is one of the top ten child killers in Ethiopia, according to the health ministry. UNICEF said the outbreak had occurred in four of Ethiopia’s nine regions: Tigray, Afar, Benshangul-Gumuz and Oromiya. The highest number of cases was in Benshangul, where about 167 cases have been reported in the past few weeks. Officials at the health ministry said they were vaccinating people between the ages of two and 30 in affected areas. The first signs of meningitis are fever, followed by a rash and then vomiting. Victims suffer stiffness before unconsciousness and death. The bacteria are transmitted from person to person through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions. Vansteirteghem said that Ethiopia usually suffers a major outbreak every two or three years. "Things are under control," she added. "It will only become of serious concern if it spreads." According to the UN World Health Organisation, outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis often occur during the dry season – December to June - when dusty winds and respiratory infections due to cold nights increase the risk. Overcrowding can also lead to outbreaks. Ethiopia falls in the "meningitis belt" of sub-Saharan Africa - an area with an estimated population of 300 million that stretches from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia. The country’s last major epidemic occurred in 1996. UNICEF also said it was supporting a massive measles-vaccination programme in Afar, in northeastern Ethiopia, and Gambella region in the far west, which borders Sudan. Together with the regional health authority, they plann to vaccinate 230,000 children up to the age of five in Afar and 200,000 children up to 15 in Gambella.