© Fabrice Caterini/INEDIZ/MSFZahardien Musa, a meningitis patient from Sokoto, Nigeria.
Thousands of men, women, and children in northern
Nigeria have been affected by a meningitis C outbreak, reportedly the largest to hit the country in the past nine years. Almost six months after the first cases were recorded in Zamfara State, Nigeria's Ministry of Health (MoH) is still struggling to fight this epidemic in seven states of the country.
Médecins Sans Frontières has supported the health authorities with surveillance and case management in the most-affected areas since February, when the outbreak was officially declared. However, the slow reaction of the country and a global shortage of vaccines have hampered the response.
On 15 April MSF set up a 200-bed treatment centre in Sokoto Town, followed by a 20-bed facility in Anka, Zamfara. In these locations, MSF's Nigeria Emergency Response Unit (NERU) works intensively to provide free, high-quality medical care and reduce mortality rates as much as possible.
These teams treat challenging cases in a difficult environment. "A few days ago a nine-year-old boy was brought in unconsciousness and with severe meningitis," recalls Caroline Riefthuis, an MSF nurse in Sokoto. "He received treatment for five days and recovered, but unfortunately we found out that he had become deaf and blind— complications of severe meningitis."
Comment: Considering how ineffective and dangerous vaccines are, what the MSF is doing (probably out of ignorance) is criminal: See: