Our website use cookies to improve and personalize your experience and to display advertisements (if any). Our website may also include cookies from third parties like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and Youtube. By using the website, you consent to the use of cookies.

Nigeria is pioneering a new vaccine to fight meningitis – why this matters

Nigeria is pioneering a new vaccine to fight meningitis – why this matters

NIGERIA recently became the first country to roll out a new vaccine (called Men5CV) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which protects people against five strains of meningococcus bacteria. The Conversation Africa asked Idris Mohammed, a professor of infectious diseases and immunology and former board chair of Nigeria’s National Programme on Immunisation, to explain the new vaccine and its likely impact. What is meningitis? Meningitis is the inflammation of the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord, usually caused by infection. It can be fatal. Meningitis can be caused by several species of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The…
Read More
More African countries set to approve malaria shot; 20 million doses ready in 2023

More African countries set to approve malaria shot; 20 million doses ready in 2023

JENNIFER RIGBY AFRICAN countries are lining up to approve a new vaccine for malaria, with 20 million doses available for them to buy this year, the shot’s manufacturer told Reuters. This week, Nigeria's medicines regulator followed Ghana's, with the two nations becoming the first countries in the world to back the new R21 vaccine, developed by scientists at Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Novavax. The move was unusual as it came before the World Health Organization's approval. African countries that do not have extensive resources for drug regulation have previously relied on the U.N. agency to initially review…
Read More