New Meningitis Vaccine Could Prevent Outbreaks
- By BSTQ Staff
A new meningitis vaccine will help to prevent epidemics in Africa for the first time, revolutionizing how doctors fight outbreaks of the deadly disease, say health officials. Recently approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), the vaccine targets type A meningitis, which causes more than 90 percent of outbreaks in Africa. The vaccine is the result of a partnership that began in 2001 between the WHO, the Serum Institute of India and PATH, an international non-profit funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It costs 40 cents a shot, and UNICEF can now purchase the vaccine for countries.