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Meningitis

Meningitis

Meningococcal meningitis is a contagious and potentially fatal bacterial infection of the brain membrane. The bacteria are transmitted through respiratory droplets or throat secretions, with spread commonly occurring through close contact. Overcrowding and cramped living conditions facilitate the spread of the disease.   The vast majority of meningitis cases and deaths occur in Africa. During the dry season (December to June), epidemics regularly hit countries in the African meningitis belt, a region that stretches across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia.   Without treatment, meningococcal meningitis can kill up to 80 % of infected people. However, with early diagnosis and treatment with appropriate...
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Chad faces twin emergencies of acute malnutrition and meningitis

28 March 2012
MSF staff carrying out a meningitis vaccination campaign in Chad
Chad. MSF staff carrying out a meningitis vaccination campaign using the MenAfriVac vaccine, which protects for far longer than other meningitis vaccines
Immediate response needed to save lives and prevent deeper health crisis, says MSF   N’Djamena - Severe acute malnutrition in parts of Chad’s Sahel belt has reached emergency levels and requires immediate life-saving intervention, according to the humanitarian agency Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). In addition, an urgent response is also needed now to contain an expanding meningitis outbreak.  Chad: MSF staff carrying out a meningitis vaccination campaign in December 2011, using the MenAfriVac vaccine, which protects for far longer than other meningitis vaccines. Photo: Marja Scholten “Now we can see clearly that, in some parts of Chad, there are already very alarming rates of malnutrition among...
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Chad: MSF vaccinating thousands against meningitis

01 March 2012
Chad: MSF's mobile clinic in Beinamar
MSF's mobile clinic in Beinamar, Chad
Dutch nurse Marja Scholten recently coordinated a vaccination campaign in the African country of Chad. Together with a team of 300 people she protected nearly 110,000 people against meningitis.    I was happy to return to Chad, to the Mandelia district, where I had just been a month earlier, helping to prevent a cholera epidemic.  This time we would be carrying out a prevention campaign against Meningitis A.     April 2011. MSF's mobile clinic in Beinamar, Chad. Photo: Elisabeth Griot   New meningitis vaccine Meningitis, which causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain, is responsible for many deaths every year. The disease...
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MSF Activity Report 2010

20 July 2011
MSF Activity Report 2010
MSF Activity Report 2010
Open publication - Free publishing - More 2010 The International Activity Report 2010 gives details of the worldwide operational activities of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Overall, 27,650 MSF staff members worked on 427 projects in 60 countries, bringing medical assistance to people affected by natural disaster, armed conflict and epidemics. Our teams carried out some 7.3 million outpatient consultations and over 58,000 surgical interventions.  
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Niger: Nearly 400,000 children and adults vaccinated against meningitis with the support of MSF

30 April 2010
Nearly 400,000 children and adults vaccinated against meningitis with the suppor
Nearly 400,000 children and adults vaccinated against meningitis with the support of MSF
Nearly 400,000 children and young adults have been recently vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis in Zinder, Maradi and Madaoua localities. MSF is supporting the Ministry of Health with the organisation and logistics of the vaccination campaign, which ran from the 13th to the 25th of April. MSF assisted the government with the logistical organisation of the campaign, which succeeded in vaccinating 300,000 children and young adults between the ages of 2 and 30 in Zinder, Maradi and Madaoua. Photo: Liane Cerminara /MSF The drastic rise in meningitis cases reported by the authorities in the regions of Zinder, Maradi and Tahoua resulted in the timely decision by the Ministry of Health to launch a mass vaccination campaign. An...
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Video: Meningitis - A new more efficient vaccine

18 August 2010
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A revolutionary new vaccine: winning the battle against meningitis A

07 September 2010
An interview with MSF medical advisor, Dr. Cathy Hewison about new meningitis vaccine following the breakthrough development of a revolutionary new conjugate vaccine against meningitis A. MSF is preparing to order three million doses of the new vaccine for introduction in Mali and Niger in collaboration with the national and international authorities.
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by Dr. Radut.