ArticleBMC infectious diseases2016
An outbreak of pneumococcal meningitis among older children (≥5 years) and adults after the implementation of an infant vaccination programme with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Ghana.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- The epidemiology of infectious meningitis in Ghana: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Molecular Epidemiology ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Serotype distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease from countries of the WHO Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific regions: a systematic literature review from 2010 to 2021.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Etiologic Profile of the Pneumococcus in Ghana: A Systematic Review.BioMed research international · 2024Pooled it
- Pneumococcal Meningitis Outbreaks in Africa, 2000-2018: Systematic Literature Review and Meningitis Surveillance Database Analyses.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Meningococcal serogroups and surveillance: a systematic review and survey.Journal of global health · 2019Pooled it
- Memory B cell responses induced by pneumococcal conjugate vaccine schedules with fewer doses: analysis of a randomised-controlled trial in Viet Nam.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- From trial site to research emerging research hub: mapping Ghana's vaccine research ecosystem, 1977-2025.Health research policy and systems · 2026Review
- Post-Vaccination Surveillance of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Ghana.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Emergence of pneumococcal meningitis outbreak in Northern Togo in 2023, lessons learned and challenges.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Trends in bacterial meningitis in Guinea in the post-MenAfriVac era: a retrospective cross-sectional study (2021-2024).BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Investigation of the essential role of capsular polysaccharide in serotype 1Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Pneumococcal transmission is driven by TNFR2+ regulatory T-cells.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic analysis ofMicrobial genomics · 2025Article
- Pneumococcal Carriage in the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso before a 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccination Campaign.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Global impact of ten-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on invasive pneumococcal disease in all ages (the PSERENADE project): a global surveillance analysis.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Outbreak of Serotype 1 Invasive Pneumococcal Disease, Kibera Urban Informal Settlement, Nairobi, Kenya, 2023.Emerging infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of the oropharyngeal microbiome in a cohort of Ivorian school children.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Predictive signs and symptoms of bacterial meningitis isolates in Northern Ghana.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Molecular Characterization and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Non-PCV13 Pneumococcal Serotypes among Vaccinated Children in Cape Coast, Ghana.Microorganisms · 2022Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
27 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn outbreak of pneumococcal meningitis among non-infant children and adults occurred in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana between December 2015 and April 2016 despite the recent nationwide implementation of a vaccination programme for infants with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13).
methodsCerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were collected from patients with suspected meningitis in the Brong-Ahafo region. CSF specimens were subjected to Gram staining, culture and rapid antigen testing. Quantitative PCR was performed to identify pneumococcus, meningococcus and Haemophilus influenzae. Latex agglutination and molecular serotyping were performed on samples. Antibiogram and whole genome sequencing were performed on pneumococcal isolates.
resultsEight hundred eighty six patients were reported with suspected meningitis in the Brong-Ahafo region during the period of the outbreak. In the epicenter district, the prevalence was as high as 363 suspected cases per 100,000 people. Over 95 % of suspected cases occurred in non-infant children and adults, with a median age of 20 years. Bacterial meningitis was confirmed in just under a quarter of CSF specimens tested. Pneumococcus, meningococcus and Group B Streptococcus accounted for 77 %, 22 % and 1 % of confirmed cases respectively. The vast majority of serotyped pneumococci (80 %) belonged to serotype 1. Most of the pneumococcal isolates tested were susceptible to a broad range of antibiotics, with the exception of two pneumococcal serotype 1 strains that were resistant to both penicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. All sequenced pneumococcal serotype 1 strains belong to Sequence Type (ST) 303 in the hypervirulent ST217 clonal complex.
conclusionThe occurrence of a pneumococcal serotype 1 meningitis outbreak three years after the introduction of PCV13 is alarming and calls for strengthening of meningitis surveillance and a re-evaluation of the current vaccination programme in high risk countries.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.