title: Meningococcal serogroup W135 in the African meningitis belt: epidemiology, immunity and vaccines.
abstract: In the sub-Saharan African meningitis belt there is a region of hyperendemic and epidemic meningitis stretching from Senegal to Ethiopia. The public health approaches to meningitis epidemics, including those related to vaccine use, have assumed that Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A will cause the most disease. During 2001 and 2002, the first large-scale epidemics of serogroup W135 meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa were reported from Burkina Faso. The occurrence of N. meningitidis W135 epidemics has led to a host of new issues, including the need for improved laboratory diagnostics for identifying serogroups during epidemics, an affordable supply of serogroup W135-containing polysaccharide vaccine for epidemic control where needed, and re-evaluating the long-term strategy of developing a monovalent A conjugate vaccine for the region. This review summarizes the existing data on N. meningitidis W135 epidemiology, immunology and vaccines as they relate to meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa.
authors.affiliation: Agence de Médecine Préventive, 25 du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France. jmueller@aamp.org
authors.forename: Judith E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borrow
authors.forename: Bradford D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Gessner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D002353:Carrier State; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D038582:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup W-135 / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012703:Serotyping / Q000379:methods; D014611:Vaccination / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines