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Meningitis memories from Ghana

Introduced to Africa in December 2010, a new vaccine against meningitis A could eventually prevent epidemics that once killed as many as 25,000 people in a year. Source: GAVI / Five One Films / 2010.

Mercy Ahun, Managing Director, Programme Delivery, GAVI Alliance, reflects on her time working with patients in Ghana suffering from the effects of meningococcal meningitis A, Ghana’s most common form of meningitis


Growing up in a Ghanaian coastal village, the dry and dusty trade winds that blew in from the Sahara were associated with Advent, Christmas, and happiness.

But as I moved inland with my work, they also become linked with meningococcal meningitis A, Ghana’s most common form of meningitis, which brought major epidemics every 8 to 12 years.

Men A strikes children and young adults suddenly, causing severe headaches, fever, and a stiff neck. Patients can die within 48 hours.

I still remember the hospital wards where I used to work. Meningitis patients were usually on the floor because their seizures made them fall off the bed. As a medical student, I often had to bend the rigid patients into a foetal position so that I could extract the cloudy fluid from their spinal cord and confirm the suspected diagnosis. Year after year, we gave intravenous antibiotics every four hours and prayed the patient would survive without major complications.

In 1989, I became the district medical officer responsible for  preventive health of a city of one million people. On one memorable occasion, with an epidemic threatening, a terrified crowd of people nearly broke down the vaccine cold store door in an attempt to get the vaccine. The fear on their faces was palpable.
Then, in 1997, the biggest ever Men A epidemic struck, not just in the four northern regions as usual, but throughout the country, hitting about 20,000 people.

And just a few years later, in 2001 a close relative of mine, a healthy 20 year old, began complaining of a headache. He later collapsed and was given intravenous antibiotics. But within 48 hours, he was dead.

His death devastated my family, with rumours amok about the role of evil spirits. A decade later, my extended African family is still coming to terms with the loss.

This Christmas, I am taking my children back to Ghana. The new Men A conjugate vaccine gives us the opportunity to celebrate without fear of this ancient scourge. It provides us hope for the future.