[afro-nets] Killer Hib virtually wiped out in Africa

[Leela McCullough <leela@healthnet.org>]

Killer Hib virtually wiped out in Africa
----------------------------------------

12 August 2005

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk

A pioneering vaccination programme for children has virtually
wiped out a killer bug in the Gambia - and could save hundreds
of thousands of young lives across Africa.

The vaccinations have slashed the incidence of the disease,
which causes
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/linkfwd.php?type=kw&link=http://
www.patienthealthinternational.com/ncm.aspx?type=article&param=501636
meningitis and other diseases in babies and infants, to
virtually zero.

Paul Milligan of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medi-
cine said: This is an extremely valuable result. It proves that
a routine vaccination to eradicate a major killer is achievable
and practical.

And it points the way for other African countries to introduce
the same sort of vaccination programme, which has the potential
to save a lot of lives and help meet the Millennium Development
Goal of cutting the under-five mortality rate in the developing
world by two-thirds.

Since 1997, children in the Gambia have been vaccinated against
H. influenzae type b, known as Hib. The bacterium is a major
cause of meningitis, which can kill or leave children severely
disabled and of potentially fatal pneumonia.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that Hib kills as
many as 700,000 children every year - mostly among children in
the developing world aged under five.

Dr Milligan added that, even though there were interruptions to
the supply of vaccine in the Gambia programme and less than 70
percent of children got a complete course, the long-term pro-
gramme, which started in 1997, has still proved highly effec-
tive.

He said: Virtual eradication of the disease has been achieved,
even with a less-than-perfect programme, which is particularly
relevant to other sub-Saharan African countries.

Before the introduction of the programme Hib meningitis alone
affected 200 per 100,000 babies aged under 12 months and 60 per
100,000 children aged under five.

Only 45 percent of children affected recovered fully from Hib
disease and 30 percent of those who contracted
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/linkfwd.php?type=kw&link=http://
www.patienthealthinternational.com/ncm.aspx?type=article&param=501636
meningitis died.

The study was led by the UK Medical Research Council's Dr Rich-
ard Adegbola, and part-funded by WHO.

The research showed that since 2002, Hib transmission has been
virtually eliminated - in both vaccinated and unvaccinated chil-
dren, because the vaccination programme has meant transmission
is less likely.

Before the vaccination programme, around 12 percent of children
between one and two years old carried the infectious bacteria -
that rate is now less than 0.5 percent.

Dr Milligan said: The study shows the vaccination programme has
been an outstanding success - we now need similar programmes
across the developing world to reduce the massive rate of death
and disability associated with Hib.

Raymond Hainey
Press Officer
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Keppel St
London
Tel: +44-207-927-2073 or +44-7979-401509 (mobile)
mailto:raymond.hainey@lshtm.ac.uk
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk