Meningitis in Niger Republic amidst COVID-19: current issues and novel recommendations

Abstract

Amidst COVID-19, there has been a misplaced priority for meningitis in the Niger Republic, thus refocusing resources and attention away from the continuing meningitis campaign in the Niger Republic. The overstretched state of public health resources and staff has also led to decreased surveillance, postponed diagnoses, and constrained immunization efforts in the Niger Republic. This review aims to bridge the gaps about meningitis amid COVID-19 in the Niger Republic and proffer recommendations for the Niger government to mitigate meningitis in the country with the hope of finding an everlasting solution to this debilitating disease. We reviewed 45 past and present pieces of literature on meningitis and COVID-19 from 2013 to 2023 in well-renowned scientific databases such as PubMed, Researchgate, Google Scholar, African Online Journal, Medline, and Embase. Since 2015, Niger Republic has seen multiple meningitis epidemics that have resulted in 20, 789 cases and 1369 deaths (case fatality rate (CFR) of 6.6%). 231 cases of meningitis were reported from November 1st, 2021, to January 31st, 2022. And recently, 559 cases of meningitis (of which 111 are laboratory confirmed), including 18 deaths (overall CFR 3.2%), from the Zinder region, southeast of Niger Republic, from the 1st of November 2022 to the 27th of January 2023. Meningitis remains a public health concern in the world, especially in the Niger Republic, which could lead to serious long-term complications. Therefore, adequate and novel measures and therapeutic actions should be implemented by the Niger government to lessen the burden of the disease in the country.