Meningitis confirmed in Darfur IDPs camp

Mar 20, 2006 (NAIROBI) — A 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 United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday.

Some 28 cases of meningitis and one death had been reported through an early-warning system by 10 March, WHO said in a statement. The disease had also been reported in other regions of Sudan. As of 16 March, 526 cases with 23 deaths had been reported countrywide, including in Blue Nile, Gedaref, Kassala and South Kordofan States.

Mass vaccination campaigns were going on in South Kordofan and Gedaref while two campaigns had been completed in Blue Nile and Kassala.

A task force chaired by the Sudanese health ministry, together with WHO, the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) and nongovernmental organisations is coordinating the response to the outbreak.

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. In 2005, 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.

(IRIN)