SynthesisThe Journal of infectious diseases2021
Pneumococcal Meningitis Outbreaks in Africa, 2000-2018: Systematic Literature Review and Meningitis Surveillance Database Analyses.
Synthesis in The Journal of infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Availability of published evidence on coverage, cost components, and funding support for digitalisation of infectious disease surveillance in Africa, 2003-2022: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Emergence of pneumococcal meningitis outbreak in Northern Togo in 2023, lessons learned and challenges.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Article
- ModelingInfectious Disease Modelling · 2025Article
- The evolving burden of childhood meningitis in low- and middle-income countries, 1990-2021: a decomposition and frontier analysis.European journal of pediatrics · 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
- Vaccines as antimicrobial resistance control tools: evidence from pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in South Africa.The Pan African medical journal · 2025Article
- New title: Re-evaluating environmental associations with meningitis risk across Africa.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks Among Healthcare Workers: A Scoping Review.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2024Article
- Strategies for controlling pneumococcal disease and outbreaks during humanitarian emergencies.Nature medicine · 2024Article
- Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes of Bacterial Meningitis in Children and Adults in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Current tropical medicine reports · 2024Article
- Serotype Distribution of Remaining Pneumococcal Meningitis in the Mature PCV10/13 Period: Findings from the PSERENADE Project.Microorganisms · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa has traditionally experienced large outbreaks of meningitis mainly caused by Neisseria meningitidis. More recently, Streptococcus pneumoniae has been recognized as a cause of meningitis outbreaks in the region. Little is known about the natural history and epidemiology of these outbreaks, and, in contrast to meningococcal meningitis, there is no agreed definition for a pneumococcal meningitis epidemic. The aim of this analysis was to systematically review and understand pneumococcal meningitis outbreaks in Africa between 2000 and 2018.
methodsMeningitis outbreaks were identified using a systematic literature review and analyses of meningitis surveillance databases. Potential outbreaks were included in the final analysis if they reported at least 10 laboratory-confirmed meningitis cases above baseline per week with ≥50% of cases confirmed as pneumococcus.
resultsA total of 10 potential pneumococcal meningitis outbreaks were identified in Africa between 2000 and 2018. Of these, 2 were classified as confirmed, 7 were classified as possible, and 1 was classified as unlikely. Three outbreaks spanned more than 1 year. In general, the outbreaks demonstrated lower peak attack rates than meningococcal meningitis outbreaks and had a predominance of serotype 1. Patients with pneumococcal meningitis tended to be older and had higher case fatality rates than meningococcal meningitis cases. An outbreak definition, which includes a weekly district-level incidence of at least 10 suspected cases per 100 000 population per week, with >10 cumulative confirmed cases of pneumococcus per year, would have identified all 10 potential outbreaks.
conclusionsGiven the frequency of and high case fatality from pneumococcal meningitis outbreaks, public health recommendations on vaccination strategies and the management of outbreaks are needed. Improved laboratory testing for S. pneumoniae is critical for early outbreak identification.
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.