Meningitis trends in Niger 2008-2015: a secondary data analysis.

Introduction: Niger, located in the meningitis belt, faces recurrent epidemics of magnitudes that vary with the year. The objective of this study was to describe the trends in meningitis and identify the profile of the microbes implicated in meningitis epidemics in Niger.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive study (a secondary analysis) of meningitis data from 2008 through 2015. The study population comprised patients with suspected and confirmed meningitis. We conducted an exhaustive sampling of all suspected and confirmed meningitis cases reported in Niger from 2008 to 2015.

Results: A total of 6167 (40.6 %) confirmed cases of meningitis were identified. Among them, 5,507 (89.3 %) were attributable to Neisseria meningitidis, 593 (9.6 %) to Streptococcus pneumoniae, and 66 (1.1 %) to Haemophilus influenzae respectively. Among the Neisseria meningitidis cases, 2,984 (54.2 %) were caused by serogroup A, 1,333 (24.2 %) by serogroup W, 1,165 (21.1 %) by serogroup C, 23 (0.4 %) by serogroup X, and 2 (0.03 %) by the serogroup B.

Conclusion: This study enabled us to describe meningitis trends and identify the profile of the bacteria implicated in its epidemics in Niger. We observed the emergence of Neisseria meningitidis C and recommend vaccination against this serogroup.