POVERTY: UGANDA: Meningitis outbreak kills 16 in north

KAMPALA, 23 March 2012 (IRIN)

 Photo: Charles Akena/IRIN
Meningitis vaccination can significantly reduce mortality (file photo)

At least 16 people have died in a meningitis epidemic in two districts in northern Uganda over the past three weeks, say health officials.
Amuru District, where the epidemic is spreading fast, has recorded 33 cases with 14 deaths since 24 February, while Oyam District has reported 25 cases with two deaths.
The two districts are just recovering from two decades of Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency which displaced over 1.8 million people and left thousands dead.
“The deadly disease is spreading… The number could be higher as not all come to health facilities,” Charles Okwera, deputy district health officer in Amuru, told IRIN.
“We have stepped up surveillance and alertness following the outbreak. We are doing everything possible to contain the disease.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a 21 March statement said 18 suspected cases with three deaths were recorded in three parishes in Pabbo sub-county, Amuru District, while 25 cases including two deaths were recorded in Oyam.
“In Oyam the sample revealed that the causative organism was streptococcus pnuemonie which is a usual bacteria that causes meningitis of the sporadic nature,” said Emmanuel Tenywa, a WHO official in Gulu.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the lining surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. It is caused by bacteria and transmitted through contact with respiratory or throat secretions. The most worrying type of meningitis is caused by a bacteria of the subtypes of meningococcal meningitides.

Dust helps meningitis spread
Medical experts say dust, which is common during the dry season, leads to an increase in respiratory infections and helps spread meningitis because the bacteria attach themselves to dust particles, but “the dry season is ending and there should not be much worry,” said Tenywa.
Rukia Nakamatte, a Ministry of Health spokesperson, said an Epidemic Response Team and health experts had been dispatched to the affected districts to contain the outbreak. “We have delivered the necessary drugs and supplies to contain the deadly disease,” Nakamate, told IRIN.
Uganda lies within the African meningitis belt, stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east, according to WHO. The region, experiences meningitis cycles whenever the dry season sets in. While vaccination can significantly reduce mortality, the exact strain of meningitis needs to be identified before vaccines are administered.
Typically, the disease has a mortality rate of 5 to 10 percent, with death occurring within 24 to 48 hours, while some survivors suffer brain damage, hearing loss or learning disabilities.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95139/UGANDA-Meningitis-outbreak-kills-16-in-north

POVERTY: COTE D'IVOIRE: Meningitis spreads as people scramble for vaccine

KORHOGO, 2 February 2012 (IRIN)

 Photo: Claire Barrault/ECHO
A West Africa meningitis outbreak in 2009-2010 killed over 900 people (file photo)

Eleven people have died from meningitis out of 40 reported cases in four departments across Côte d’Ivoire as of 31 January, leaving people scrambling to access the vaccine for their families.
The Ministry of Health has declared the outbreaks in the departments of Kouto and Tengrela in the north as epidemics, and is providing free vaccinations in both locations through mobile health teams, with the help of the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Bacterial and viral meningitis are diseases which cause inflammation in layers of the brain and spinal cord, and the former has a high fatality rate.
Residents of also-affected Saminkro in the centre of the country and Kani in the centre-west must pay US$5 each for a vaccination, or $3 if they come forward as a group. Ivoirians in these departments - and in surrounding areas - are lobbying the Health Ministry to bring down prices as many cannot afford to raise enough money to vaccinate their families.
“It’s a question of economics,” Jeremie Ipo, director of the district health centre in the village of Poungbè in Korhogo region, told IRIN. “We can only reduce the price of the vaccine as soon as there are enough people demanding it.”
The government recently abandoned the provision of free health care for all because of skyrocketing costs. While birth deliveries and some immunizations for children under age six are still covered, meningitis is not included.
Côte d’Ivoire is part of the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa, which stretches from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. A 2009-2010 meningitis outbreak killed over 900 people and infected over 13,000 in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94783

MALNUTRITION: Chad

A woman and her children in Chad where efforts are being made to tackle soaring malnutrition

24 September 2010 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is dramatically expanding its programme of assistance in Chad after a nutrition survey revealed that up to one quarter of children aged under five may be suffering acute malnutrition.
The survey, conducted by UNICEF with Chad’s health ministry, revealed acute malnutrition rates ranging from 15.2 to 24.9 per cent in six regions within the country’s Sahelian belt. The emergency threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 15 per cent.
“We have been responding to a nutritional crisis which has been threatening the lives and well being of children since the beginning of the year,” said Marzio Babille, UNICEF’s representative in Chad. “But these latest figures prove that families have been experiencing a severe reduction in their ability to cope and fend for themselves.”
Historically, the Sahel belt of Chad is often affected by prolonged periods of food insecurity resulting in poor health and nutrition indicators for children and women. During the 2009-2010 agricultural season, rainfall was inadequate both in quantity and in geographical distribution. This led to a severe drop in harvest and livestock production, including a 34 per cent fall in cereal production.
In addition, the region has increasingly suffered from such consequences of climate change as deteriorating rainfall levels – as well as from rising food prices and the increased migration of labour. This situation, which leaves children and women more vulnerable, is exacerbated by a weak health system, low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, poor access to safe drinking water, and recurrent outbreaks of such diseases as measles and meningitis.
Meeting these challenges is a staggering undertaking, requiring significant international support.
“UNICEF, Government and partners are scaling up interventions and intensifying efforts in these regions with the aim of supporting 50,000 of the most vulnerable children,” said Dr. Babille.
“To do this, we appeal to donors to make up the $8 million shortfall that exists in the multi-sector emergency appeal… for $19 million made earlier this year,” he said. Areas covered by that appeal include interventions in the fields of health and nutrition, water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and HIV/AIDS.
The UNICEF nutrition survey addresses the situation in these six regions of Chad: Lac, Hadjer-Lamis, Batha, Guera, Ouaddai and Wadi-Fira. It was carried out in partnership with World Food Programme (WFP) and funded by the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36138&Cr=chad&Cr1=