Trends and variations in the epidemiology of meningococcal disease in Kuwait 1987-2013
Affiliations
Affiliations
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait. Electronic address: ehusain@hsc.edu.kw.
- Communicable Diseases Control Unit, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Kuwait.
Abstract
The introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine and conjugate pneumococcal vaccine into routine childhood vaccination in Kuwait has resulted in the emergence of Neisseria meningitidis as the leading cause of invasive bacterial infection in children. Currently, a quadrivalent ACYW-135 meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine is administered as part of routine childhood vaccination in Kuwait at the age of 2 years. Conjugate meningococcal vaccines have been shown to be more effective in preventing meningococcal infection in young children. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of meningococcal disease (MD) in Kuwait and evaluate the need for conjugate vaccine in routine childhood immunization. We have reviewed the MD surveillance data from the communicable disease unit, Ministry of Health, Kuwait during the period from 1987 to 2013. The analysis included microbiologically confirmed cases of N. meningitidis in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid. There were 293 cases of confirmed MD during the study period. Two hundred and four cases (70%) were in children ≤ 14 years of age. The mean incidence rate was 0.5/100,000 persons. The dominant serogroups were W-135 and B, accounting for 80 cases (32%) each. Serogroup B accounted for 69/204 (34%) of all cases in children ≤ 14 years and serogroup A accounted for 36/89 40% of all adult cases. There were three outbreaks: 1987 (caused by serogroup A), 1989 (caused by serogroup W-135) and 2002 (caused by serogroup B). The mean case fatality rate was 13.5%. In conclusion, despite childhood routine vaccination with ACYW-135 polysaccharide vaccine, infants and young children remain at high risk for MD, which supports the introduction of conjugate meningococcal vaccine to the routine childhood vaccination schedule.
Keywords: Kuwait; Meningococcal conjugate vaccine; Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine; Neisseria meningitidis.
Similar articles
Martin NG, Sadarangani M, Pollard AJ, Goldacre MJ.Lancet Infect Dis. 2014 May;14(5):397-405. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(14)70027-1. Epub 2014 Mar 14.PMID: 24631222
Prevention of meningococcal disease: current use of polysaccharide and conjugate vaccines.
Poland GA.Clin Infect Dis. 2010 Mar 1;50 Suppl 2:S45-53. doi: 10.1086/648964.PMID: 20144016 Review.
Vickers DM, Anonychuk AM, De Wals P, Demarteau N, Bauch CT.Vaccine. 2015 Jan 1;33(1):268-75. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.09.034. Epub 2013 Oct 6.PMID: 24103896
The epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease in EU/EEA countries, 2004-2014.
Whittaker R, Dias JG, Ramliden M, Ködmön C, Economopoulou A, Beer N, Pastore Celentano L; ECDC network members for invasive meningococcal disease.Vaccine. 2017 Apr 11;35(16):2034-2041. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.03.007. Epub 2017 Mar 14.PMID: 28314560
Emergence of serogroup X meningococcal disease in Africa: need for a vaccine.
Xie O, Pollard AJ, Mueller JE, Norheim G.Vaccine. 2013 Jun 12;31(27):2852-61. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.04.036. Epub 2013 Apr 24.PMID: 23623866 Review.
Cited by
Epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease worldwide from 2010-2019: a literature review.
Pardo de Santayana C, Tin Tin Htar M, Findlow J, Balmer P.Epidemiol Infect. 2023 Mar 6;151:e57. doi: 10.1017/S0950268823000328.PMID: 37052295 Free PMC article. Review.
Meningococcal disease within the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries.
Al Awaidy S, Ozudogru O, Badur S.Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2023 Dec 31;19(1):2193120. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2193120. Epub 2023 Apr 13.PMID: 37051899 Free PMC article. Review.
Dogu AG, Oordt-Speets AM, van Kessel-de Bruijn F, Ceyhan M, Amiche A.BMC Infect Dis. 2021 Oct 22;21(1):1088. doi: 10.1186/s12879-021-06781-6.PMID: 34686136 Free PMC article. Review.
Bizri AR, Althaqafi A, Kaabi N, Obeidat N, Al Akoury N, Haridy H.Infect Dis Ther. 2021 Jun;10(2):663-685. doi: 10.1007/s40121-021-00420-y. Epub 2021 Mar 22.PMID: 33751422 Free PMC article. Review.
Kuwait Recommendations on Vaccine Use in People with Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases.
AlEnizi A, AlSaeid K, Alawadhi A, Hasan E, Husain EH, AlFadhli A, Ghanem A, Abutiban F, Ali Y, Al-Herz A, Mohammed K, Alkandari W, Aldei A, Alhajeri H, Dehrab A, Hayat S.Int J Rheumatol. 2018 May 13;2018:5217461. doi: 10.1155/2018/5217461. eCollection 2018.PMID: 29861734 Free PMC article. Review.