Science Journal of Public Health

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Epidemiological Patterns of Bacterial Meningitis in Niger from 2002 to 2010

Received: 10 January 2014    Accepted:     Published: 20 February 2014
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Abstract

Objective: To describe the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in Niger from January 2002 to June 2010 Methods: A retrospective study of data from the laboratory surveillance of meningitis; cerebrospinal fluid samples from suspected clinical cases were collected and tested using polymerase chain reaction and/or bacteriology for the surveillance of bacterial meningitis in Niger. Data on patients was collected using a questionnaire. Results: The number of CSF samples received was 19,273. Over 80% of the patients were under the age of 15. The overall mean age was 9 years with a range of 0 to 93 years. The mean age was lower for H. influenzae (2.4 years, SD=4.8) than for N. meningitidis (9.4 years, SD=7.9), S. pneumoniae (11.5 years, SD=13.5) and for the other bacteria (7.9 years, SD=10.1). Males were significantly more affected than females (57.4% versus 42.6%, p < 0.0001). N. meningitidis, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were the three main etiological agents found in 42.4% of the total tested cases. The majority of confirmed cases of the three bacteria were caused by N. meningitidis (81.6%). Serogroup A caused 75% of meningococcal meningitis cases during the study period. The highest annual incidence of N. meningitidis cases occurred in March and April and was observed in 2008-2009 (15.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). The annual incidence rates were most often high in the southeast, near Nigeria. S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae incidence was higher in Niamey, with 275 and 145 cases, respectively, in this town during the study period. Conclusion: This study revealed the characteristics of the bacteria involved in meningitis, and particularly the serogroups of N. meningitidis circulating in Niger, as well as the age groups and areas affected, since 2002. The implementation of the PCR technique considerably improved microbiological surveillance and made it possible to extend its use to the whole country.

DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13
Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2014)
Page(s) 58-63
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bacterial Meningitis, Neisseria Meningitidis, Streptococcus Pneumonia, Haemophilus Influenza, Niger

References
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[2] World Health Organization. Cerebrospinal meningitis in Africa. Wkly Epidemiol Rec 1996:41:311-2.
[3] Tikomirov E, Santamaria M and Esteves K. Meningococcal disease: public health burden and control. World Health Stat Q 1997; 50(3-4):p.170-177.
[4] OMS. Rapport sur la santé dans le monde 2003. Façonner l’avenir 203 ;WHO :Genève.
[5] World Health Organization (2005) Enhanced surveillance of epidemic meningococcal meningitis in Africa: A 3-year experience. Wkly Epidemiol Rec 80, 313-20.
[6] Boisier, P., Maïnassara, H. B., Sidikou, F., Djibo, S., Kairo, K. K., Chanteau, S. (2007) Case-fatality ratio of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt: we can do better. Vaccine 25S, A24-9.
[7] World Health Organization (2002) Meningococcal disease, serogroup W135, Burkina Faso. Preliminary report. Wkly Epidemiol Rec 77(18), 152-5.
[8] Taha, M. K., Parent du Chatelet I., Schlumberger M. et al. (2002) Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W135 and A were equally prevalent among meningitis cases occurring at the end of the 2001 epidemics in Burkina Faso and Niger. Journal of clinical microbiology 40(3), 1083-1084.
[9] Campagne, G., Schuchat, A., Djibo, S., Ousseini, A., Cissé, L. and Chippaux, J. P. (1999) Epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in Niamey, Niger, 1981-96. Bull World Health Organ 77(6), 499-508.
[10] Djibo, S., Nicolas, P., Alonso, J. M., Djibo, A., Couret, D., Riou, Y. J. (2003) Outbreaks of serogroup X meningococcal meningitis in Niger 1995-2000. Trop Med Int Health 8(12), 1118-23.
[11] Boisier, P., Nicolas, P., Djibo, S., Taha, M. K., Jeanne, I., Maïnassara, H. B. et al. (2007) Meningococcal meningitis: unprecedented incidence of serogroup X-related cases in 2006 in Niger. Clin Infect Dis 44 (5), 657-63.
[12] World Health Organization (1998) Control of Epidemic Meningococcal Disease. WHO Practical Guidelines, 2nd ed. Document WHO/EMC/BAC98.3. WHO, Geneva.
[13] Sidikou, F., Djibo, S., Taha, M. K., Alonso, J. M., Djibo, A., Kairo, K. K. et al. (2003) Polymerase chain reaction assay and bacterial meningitis surveillance in remote areas, Niger. Emerg Infect Dis 9(11), 1486-88.
[14] Chanteau, S., Sidikou, F., Djibo, S., Moussa, A., Mindadou, H. and Boisier, P. (2006) Scaling up of PCR-based surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt: indisputable benefits of multiplex PCR assay in Niger. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 100(7), 677-80.
[15] Taha, M. K. (2000) Simultaneous approach for non-culture PCR-based identification and serogroup prediction of Neisseria meningitides. J Clin Microbiol 38, 855-7.
[16] Djibo, S., Njanpop-Lafourcade, B. M., Boisier, P., Moussa, A., Kobo, G., Sidikou, A. et al. (2006) Evaluation of the Pastorex meningitis kit for the rapid identification of Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A and W135. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 100(6), 573-8.
[17] Traore, Y., Tameklo, T. A., Njanpop-Lafourcade, B. M., Lourd, M., Yaro, S., Niamba, D. et al. (2009) Incidence, seasonality, age distribution and mortality of pneumococcal meningitis in Burkina Faso and Togo. CID 48 (Suppl 2); S181-9.
[18] Greenwood, B. (2006) 100 years of epidemic meningitis in West Africa – has anything changed? Tropical Medicine and International Health 2(6), 773-80.
[19] Collard, J. M., Maman, Z., Abani, A., Maïnassara, H. B., Djibo, S., Yacouba, H., et al. (2011) Microbiological and epidemiological investigation of the Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A epidemic in Niger in 2009: Last wave before the introduction of the serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine? Epidemiol Infect doi:10.1017/S0950268810003092;1-5.
[20] Delrieu, I., Yaro, S., Tamekloé, T. A. S., Njanpop-Lafourcade, B. M., Tall, H., Jaillard, P. et al. (2011) Emergence of epidemic Neisseria meningitidis serogroup X meningitis in Togo and Burkina Faso. PLoS ONE 6(5): e19513. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019513
[21] Leimkugel, J., Forgor, A. A., Gagneux, S. et al. (2005) An outbreak of serotype 1 Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis in Northern Ghana with features that are characteristic of Neisseria meningitidis meningitis epidemics JID 192-199.
[22] Theodoridou, M. N., Vasilopoulou, V. A., Atsali, E. E. et al. (2007) Meningitis registry of hospitalized cases in children: Epidemiological patterns of acute bacterial meningitis throughout a 32-year period. BMC Infectious Diseases 7:101.
[23] Baethgen, L. F., Weidlickh, L., Moraes, C. et al. (2008) Epidemiology of meningococcal disease in southern Brazil from 1995 to 2003, and molecular characterization of Neisseria meningitidis using multilocus sequence typing. Tropical Medicine and International Health 13 (1), 31-40.
[24] Maïnassara, H. B., Molinari, N., Dematteï, C. and Fabbro, P. (2010) The relative risk of spatial clusters occurrence and spatio-temporal evolution of meningococcal disease in Niger, 2002-2008. Geospatial Health 5(1), 93-101.
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  • APA Style

    Halima Boubacar Maïnassara, Fati Sidikou, Saacou Djibo, Amadou Moussa Soussou, Bassira Boubacar Issaka, et al. (2014). Epidemiological Patterns of Bacterial Meningitis in Niger from 2002 to 2010. Science Journal of Public Health, 2(2), 58-63. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13

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    ACS Style

    Halima Boubacar Maïnassara; Fati Sidikou; Saacou Djibo; Amadou Moussa Soussou; Bassira Boubacar Issaka, et al. Epidemiological Patterns of Bacterial Meningitis in Niger from 2002 to 2010. Sci. J. Public Health 2014, 2(2), 58-63. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13

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    AMA Style

    Halima Boubacar Maïnassara, Fati Sidikou, Saacou Djibo, Amadou Moussa Soussou, Bassira Boubacar Issaka, et al. Epidemiological Patterns of Bacterial Meningitis in Niger from 2002 to 2010. Sci J Public Health. 2014;2(2):58-63. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13,
      author = {Halima Boubacar Maïnassara and Fati Sidikou and Saacou Djibo and Amadou Moussa Soussou and Bassira Boubacar Issaka and Ali Sidiki and Jocelyne Rocourt},
      title = {Epidemiological Patterns of Bacterial Meningitis in Niger from 2002 to 2010},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {58-63},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20140202.13},
      abstract = {Objective: To describe the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in Niger from January 2002 to June 2010 Methods: A retrospective study of data from the laboratory surveillance of meningitis; cerebrospinal fluid samples from suspected clinical cases were collected and tested using polymerase chain reaction and/or bacteriology for the surveillance of bacterial meningitis in Niger. Data on patients was collected using a questionnaire. Results: The number of CSF samples received was 19,273. Over 80% of the patients were under the age of 15. The overall mean age was 9 years with a range of 0 to 93 years. The mean age was lower for H. influenzae (2.4 years, SD=4.8) than for N. meningitidis (9.4 years, SD=7.9), S. pneumoniae (11.5 years, SD=13.5) and for the other bacteria (7.9 years, SD=10.1). Males were significantly more affected than females (57.4% versus 42.6%, p < 0.0001). N. meningitidis, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were the three main etiological agents found in 42.4% of the total tested cases. The majority of confirmed cases of the three bacteria were caused by N. meningitidis (81.6%). Serogroup A caused 75% of meningococcal meningitis cases during the study period. The highest annual incidence of N. meningitidis cases occurred in March and April and was observed in 2008-2009 (15.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). The annual incidence rates were most often high in the southeast, near Nigeria. S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae incidence was higher in Niamey, with 275 and 145 cases, respectively, in this town during the study period. Conclusion: This study revealed the characteristics of the bacteria involved in meningitis, and particularly the serogroups of N. meningitidis circulating in Niger, as well as the age groups and areas affected, since 2002. The implementation of the PCR technique considerably improved microbiological surveillance and made it possible to extend its use to the whole country.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Epidemiological Patterns of Bacterial Meningitis in Niger from 2002 to 2010
    AU  - Halima Boubacar Maïnassara
    AU  - Fati Sidikou
    AU  - Saacou Djibo
    AU  - Amadou Moussa Soussou
    AU  - Bassira Boubacar Issaka
    AU  - Ali Sidiki
    AU  - Jocelyne Rocourt
    Y1  - 2014/02/20
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
    SP  - 58
    EP  - 63
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.13
    AB  - Objective: To describe the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in Niger from January 2002 to June 2010 Methods: A retrospective study of data from the laboratory surveillance of meningitis; cerebrospinal fluid samples from suspected clinical cases were collected and tested using polymerase chain reaction and/or bacteriology for the surveillance of bacterial meningitis in Niger. Data on patients was collected using a questionnaire. Results: The number of CSF samples received was 19,273. Over 80% of the patients were under the age of 15. The overall mean age was 9 years with a range of 0 to 93 years. The mean age was lower for H. influenzae (2.4 years, SD=4.8) than for N. meningitidis (9.4 years, SD=7.9), S. pneumoniae (11.5 years, SD=13.5) and for the other bacteria (7.9 years, SD=10.1). Males were significantly more affected than females (57.4% versus 42.6%, p < 0.0001). N. meningitidis, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were the three main etiological agents found in 42.4% of the total tested cases. The majority of confirmed cases of the three bacteria were caused by N. meningitidis (81.6%). Serogroup A caused 75% of meningococcal meningitis cases during the study period. The highest annual incidence of N. meningitidis cases occurred in March and April and was observed in 2008-2009 (15.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). The annual incidence rates were most often high in the southeast, near Nigeria. S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae incidence was higher in Niamey, with 275 and 145 cases, respectively, in this town during the study period. Conclusion: This study revealed the characteristics of the bacteria involved in meningitis, and particularly the serogroups of N. meningitidis circulating in Niger, as well as the age groups and areas affected, since 2002. The implementation of the PCR technique considerably improved microbiological surveillance and made it possible to extend its use to the whole country.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, CERMES, International Network of Instituts Pasteur, Niamey, Niger

  • Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, CERMES, International Network of Instituts Pasteur, Niamey, Niger

  • Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, CERMES, International Network of Instituts Pasteur, Niamey, Niger

  • Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, CERMES, International Network of Instituts Pasteur, Niamey, Niger

  • Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, CERMES, International Network of Instituts Pasteur, Niamey, Niger

  • Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, CERMES, International Network of Instituts Pasteur, Niamey, Niger

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