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Niger meningitis death toll rises to 129: minister
In Niger Africa the number of deaths due to meningitis
has increased. Since the meningitis epidemic started in January 2015 there has
been a total 129 deaths reported. As of April 22, there has been a total of 1,150
cases reported by the health minister. The meningitis disease has been
spreading rapidly. Just on April 19 there were only 85 deaths reported and 908
cases reported. The health team are calling this meningitis epidemic "a
manifest acceleration of the disease". It was stated that three of the
five districts in the city of Niger are in an epidemic state as of now and are
expecting the other districts to join them. According to a health care worker the
rapid spread of the disease is due to the fact that several strains of
meningitis are active and they take over from each other, also it is very
contagious. The heath team also believe since there was a global shortage of
vaccines against the disease that contributed to the rapid outbreak.
I was surprised that Niger was in the news again this
week for their outbreak of meningitis. I thought that the number of cases and
deaths reported would have dropped by last week. Simply because it stated in
last week’s article that there was going to be a shipment of vaccines for this
disease at the beginning of last week. The shipment must of never arrived or it
must have not of been effective. Also in this week’s article they stated how
there was a shortage in vaccines for meningitis and in a country like Niger
that can be detrimental because they are prone to these types of diseases.
4-24-15
4:03pm
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