UN agencies rush to help curb meningitis outbreaks in Sudan

The United Nations agencies are helping Sudanese health authorities to fight an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis with vaccination campaigns and technical guidance as the potentially fatal disease threatens to reach epidemic proportions in several states in the Africa's largest country.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) and children's fund UNICEF said in a statement received here Tuesday that as of last week, 526 cases with 23 deaths have been reported across the country and epidemic thresholds have so far been crossed in the states of Blue Nile, Gedaref, Kassala and South Kordofan.

Mass vaccination campaigns with bivalent vaccines are continuing in South Kordofan and Gedaref, while two campaigns have already been completed in Blue Nile and Kassala, the UN agencies said.

Another outbreak has been confirmed at a displaced persons' camp in war-torn West Darfur where 28 cases and one death have been reported to WHO.

A mass vaccination campaign against meningitis will start this week in western Sudan following the confirmation of an outbreak in Hamadyia camp for internally displaced persons in Zalinger, West Darfur, said the WHO.

WHO, the UN children's fund and non-governmental organizations are collaborating in the effort to stem the spread of the disease, which even when diagnosed early and with adequate therapy instituted, kills 5 to 10 percent of patients, typically within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

WHO Sudan is providing technical guidance for outbreak control and case management in addition to drugs and other emergency supplies for outbreak investigation.

In February, WHO reported more than 100 cases of suspected meningitis, including 15 fatalities, in six Sudanese states, including Khartoum, Blue Nile, Kassala, Sennar, West Darfur and Gedaref.

Sudan is considered part of the "African meningitis belt", a group of countries particularly vulnerable to the disease.

Last year, 3,703 people were infected in 14 Sudanese states, of whom 124 died.

Meningitis is an infection of the thin lining that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord.

Bacteria are transmitted through respiratory secretions, and symptoms include a stiff neck, high fever, sensitivity to light, confusion, headaches and vomiting.

Meningitis may result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability in 10 to 20 per cent of survivors.

Close and prolonged contact such as kissing, sneezing and coughing on someone, living in close quarters, and sharing eating or drinking utensils, facilitates the spread.

Source: Xinhua