Lydiane Agier1, Nadège Martiny2, Oumy Thiongane3, Judith E Mueller4, Juliette Paireau5, Eleanor R Watkins6, Tom J Irving7, Thibaut Koutangni4, Hélène Broutin8. 1. Combining Health Information, Computation and Statistics, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Electronic address: lydiane.agier@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr. 2. Centre de Recherches de Climatologie (CRC), UMR 6282 CNRS Biogeosciences, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. 3. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR INTERTRYP IRD-CIRAD, Antenne IRD Bobo Dioulasso, Bobo, Burkina Faso. 4. EHESP French School of Public Health, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Rennes, France; Unité de l'Epidémiologie des Maladies Emergentes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. 5. Unité de l'Epidémiologie des Maladies Emergentes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 6. Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK. 7. School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. 8. MIVEGEC, UMR 590CNRS/224IRD/UM, Montpellier, France; Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Fann, Dakar, Senegal.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Neisseria meningitidis is the major cause of seasonal meningitis epidemics in the African meningitis belt. In the changing context of a reduction in incidence of serogroup A and an increase in incidence of serogroups W and C and of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a better understanding of the determinants driving the disease transmission dynamics remains crucial to improving bacterial meningitis control. METHODS: The literature was searched to provide a multi-disciplinary overview of the determinants of meningitis transmission dynamics in the African meningitis belt. RESULTS: Seasonal hyperendemicity is likely predominantly caused by increased invasion rates, sporadic localized epidemics by increased transmission rates, and larger pluri-annual epidemic waves by changing population immunity. Carriage likely involves competition for colonization and cross-immunity. The duration of immunity likely depends on the acquisition type. Major risk factors include dust and low humidity, and presumably human contact rates and co-infections; social studies highlighted environmental and dietary factors, with supernatural explanations. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts should focus on implementing multi-country, longitudinal seroprevalence and epidemiological studies, validating immune markers of protection, and improving surveillance, including more systematic molecular characterizations of the bacteria. Integrating climate and social factors into disease control strategies represents a high priority for optimizing the public health response and anticipating the geographic evolution of the African meningitis belt.
OBJECTIVES:Neisseria meningitidis is the major cause of seasonal meningitis epidemics in the African meningitis belt. In the changing context of a reduction in incidence of serogroup A and an increase in incidence of serogroups W and C and of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a better understanding of the determinants driving the disease transmission dynamics remains crucial to improving bacterial meningitis control. METHODS: The literature was searched to provide a multi-disciplinary overview of the determinants of meningitis transmission dynamics in the African meningitis belt. RESULTS: Seasonal hyperendemicity is likely predominantly caused by increased invasion rates, sporadic localized epidemics by increased transmission rates, and larger pluri-annual epidemic waves by changing population immunity. Carriage likely involves competition for colonization and cross-immunity. The duration of immunity likely depends on the acquisition type. Major risk factors include dust and low humidity, and presumably human contact rates and co-infections; social studies highlighted environmental and dietary factors, with supernatural explanations. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts should focus on implementing multi-country, longitudinal seroprevalence and epidemiological studies, validating immune markers of protection, and improving surveillance, including more systematic molecular characterizations of the bacteria. Integrating climate and social factors into disease control strategies represents a high priority for optimizing the public health response and anticipating the geographic evolution of the African meningitis belt.
Authors: Mark Itsko; Adam C Retchless; Sandeep J Joseph; Abigail Norris Turner; Jose A Bazan; Adodo Yao Sadji; Rasmata Ouédraogo-Traoré; Xin Wang Journal: J Clin Microbiol Date: 2020-11-18 Impact factor: 5.948
Authors: Alcides Moniz Munguambe; António Eugénio Castro Cardoso de Almeida; Aquino Albino Nhantumbo; Charlotte Elizabeth Come; Tomás Francisco Zimba; José Paulo Langa; Ivano de Filippis; Eduardo Samo Gudo Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-08-08 Impact factor: 3.240