Surveillance

PCR methods are used in conjunction with conventional bacteriological methods to diagnose and monitor acute bacterial meningitis in the Central African Republic.

Between January and May 2008, 99 CSF samples from Bangui were sent to the Institut Pasteur in Bangui for analysis. All of the samples were cultured and the samples where the culture was sterile were tested by PCR to look for N. meningitidis, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae.

Results of the microbiological monitoring of meningitis in Bangui, 2008

The low frequency of N. meningitidis observed in 2008 is in line with earlier data available for the Bangui region, where the climatic and environmental conditions are clearly different from those which characterise the African “meningitis belt” and which are only found in the northern part of the Central African Republic, a long way from the reference laboratory. The current political and security situation in the Central African Republic meant that it was not possible to set up a meningitis surveillance network that could cover the whole country.