Meningitis in Africa kills 1,670 in two months: UN
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Meningitis in Africa kills 1,670 in two months: UN*
16 Mar 2007 09:28:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
GENEVA, March 16 (Reuters) - Meningitis has infected nearly 16,000
people and killed 1,670 in sub-Saharan Africa in the last two months,
the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.
The United Nations agency said it was working with Medicins Sans
Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to contain the outbreak with
vaccinations in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan
and Uganda.
Some 1.5 million people in the four affected countries have been
targeted by mass vaccination campaigns so far, though large numbers of
displaced people and those living in hard-to-access areas have presented
a challenge, the WHO said.
Outbreaks are worse during the dry season in the "meningitis belt" that
runs from East to West Africa.
Transmitted by coughing or sneezing, meningitis is an infection of the
thin lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It can cause brain
damage and deafness, and kills between 5 and 10 percent of those infected.