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Low-cost meningitis vaccine developed
A new low-cost and highly effective meningitis vaccine will be introduced in 2009 as trials in West Africa proved successful, the head of the project said in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou.
Adele Kabore, 18, suffered mental disabilities after being infected with meningitis, an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. (Image: Brahima Ouedraogo)
“The vaccine protects against the most virulent strain [of meningitis] in Africa that causes 85 percent of all damages and this vaccine will address much of the difficulty [of treatment],” said Professor Marc Laforce, head of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP).
According to Laforce, clinical trials conducted in Senegal, The Gambia and Mali showed positive results. “The vaccine is very immunogenic”, he said.
