title: Meningococcal disease in the Asia-Pacific region: Findings and recommendations from the Global Meningococcal Initiative.
abstract: The Global Meningococcal Initiative (GMI) is a global expert group that includes scientists, clinicians, and public health officials with a wide range of specialties. The purpose of the Initiative is to promote the global prevention of meningococcal disease (MD) through education, research, and cooperation. The first Asia-Pacific regional meeting was held in November 2014. The GMI reviewed the epidemiology of MD, surveillance, and prevention strategies, and outbreak control practices from participating countries in the Asia-Pacific region.Although, in general, MD is underreported in this region, serogroup A disease is most prominent in low-income countries such as India and the Philippines, while Taiwan, Japan, and Korea reported disease from serogroups C, W, and Y. China has a mixed epidemiology of serogroups A, B, C, and W. Perspectives from countries outside of the region were also provided to provide insight into lessons learnt. Based on the available data and meeting discussions, a number of challenges and data gaps were identified and, as a consequence, several recommendations were formulated: strengthen surveillance; improve diagnosis, typing and case reporting; standardize case definitions; develop guidelines for outbreak management; and promote awareness of MD among healthcare professionals, public health officials, and the general public.
authors: Vaccine Evaluation Unit, Public Health England, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WZ, UK. Electronic address: Ray.Borrow@phe.gov.uk.
authors: Ray
authors: R
authors: Borrow
authors: Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ljinsoo@medimail.co.kr.
authors: Jin-Soo
authors: JS
authors: Lee
authors: Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jvazquez@isciii.es.
authors: Julio A
authors: JA
authors: Vázquez
authors: PATH Europe, Ferney Voltaire, France. Electronic address: genwere4@yahoo.co.uk.
authors: Godwin
authors: G
authors: Enwere
authors: Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. Electronic address: muhamed-kheir.taha@pasteur.fr.
authors: Muhamed-Kheir
authors: MK
authors: Taha
authors: National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Infectious Disease Surveillance Center, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: hakamiya@nih.go.jp.
authors: Hajime
authors: H
authors: Kamiya
authors: Yonsei University, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, Wonju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: khm9120@yonsei.ac.kr.
authors: Hwang Min
authors: HM
authors: Kim
authors: Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: drjo@chonbuk.ac.kr.
authors: Dae Sun
authors: DS
authors: Jo
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D019468:Disease Management; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D014943:Global Health; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D011203:Poverty; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D065288:Serogroup; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Asia-Pacific; Epidemiology; Global Meningococcal Initiative; Meningococcal disease; Recommendations; Surveillance