The article, “New Meningitis A Vaccine is a ‘Revolution’” was posted on the Doctors Without Borders website on December 3, 2010 . The author of the article is unknown. The full text is available online at: Doctors Without Borders: "Meningitis A Vaccine is a Revolution". The article is an interview with a Doctors Without Borders representative on the subject of the recent Meningitis vaccination campaign being launched in Africa . There are several types of Meningitis, but the main focus of the campaign is on Meningitis that is caused by a bacterial infection in the fluid surrounding the brain and the spine. If left uncured, Meningitis can lead to long-term disabilities, such as deafness and mental disabilities, or even death.
Doctors Without Borders has been launching vaccination campaigns against Meningitis in Africa for years; however, this year, the campaign is slightly different. “The new vaccine is being employed as a preventative measure and not, as in the past, in response to an actual outbreak of the disease,” says a Doctors Without Borders representative. Waiting for an outbreak and vaccinating a region in an emergency situation can get chaotic, so the new campaign will employ the “herd immunity” technique. Herd immunity, “means that people who are vaccinated will protect those who are not vaccinated because they won’t pass the bacteria,” explains the representative. The new vaccine lasts for up to ten years, so it will hopefully wipe out a significant amount of the bacteria that causes Meningitis. Doctors Without Borders is looking to prevent severe outbreaks of Meningitis, but they realize that eradication is not a realistic feat at this point because there are just too many strains of the disease.
Doctors Without Borders has been launching vaccination campaigns against Meningitis in This article reminded me a lot of the video we watched in class about the eradication of smallpox. Although the goal of the Meningitis campaign is not to eradicate the disease, the challenges faced and the techniques employed are similar to those from the eradication of smallpox. In both situations, there were massive populations and not enough resources or time to vaccinate everyone. The herd immunity technique used in Meningitis vaccination is very similar to the ring vaccination technique that was used in the eradication of smallpox in
This article also interested me because I did my case study on Meningitis earlier this year. I already knew a lot about the disease and I enjoyed learning more about the prevention. Since Meningitis is a disease that is not a huge threat to us in America
I think this is a very interesting way to deal with a disease. The idea of getting a heard immunity to keep others from getting the disease is a new way of looking at the situation. In stead of innoculation that technically gives you the disease this prevents others from getting the disease as well as your protection. I think that if a country was looking to save money or couldnt afford enough vacinations for all of their people they could get as many herd immunities as they could afford and give those to as many people as they could. In turn it would also protect the others from catching the disease. I also think that it is smart for countries to do this, as the article said, before an epidemic strikes their nation and they could save many people before a disease starts to infect everyone.
ReplyDeleteI like the connection you make to smallpox. I agree that there are similarities between the people vaccinating against smallpox and those vaccinating for meningitis. The vaccine being used preventatively could definitely have a positive effect on the spread of meningitis. Even though there are many different strains of meningitis, even one being eradicated would make a difference. Through the ten years that the vaccine lasts, it would be able to help people and decrease the spread of the disease and people will remain immune for that time. Hopefully in ten years, when the vaccination is no longer present, there will be a much lower rate of meningitis infections.
ReplyDeleteKara this is a very well written. I think that if this country or any other one can not afford a vaccine I would do Herb vaccination like we learned in class. I hope they can find a cure for meningitis
ReplyDeleteKara, I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I especially liked how you related the vaccination process that doctors without borders is using to the disease warriors who eradicated smallpox. My concern is how are they going to keep up with vaccinating people if it only last ten years? Missing that one person can throw the whole system off. I think that if this type of vaccination technique is done correctly it can save thousands of lives. I really hope it works!
ReplyDeleteIt's truly interesting the methods that are used to prevent the spread of disease. Most people would think that the issue of vaccination is something that is black and white; just vaccinate those at risk and that's that. The factors that do come up however can limit this from happening. The ways that people come up to work around this like with Meningitis and Smallpox, to work around such issues is no less than amazing. Hopefully these feats of conservative social engineering can be applied more readily in the future to reducing the risk of epidemic outbreaks, perhaps to the point where we'll no longer have to worry about the spread of disease.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see people making a difference. Go doctors without borders! And it's great how even though they can't eradicate Meningitis, they can stop the spreading of it by immune people protecting those who were not vaccinated by not spreading it to them.
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