About This Seminar
Vaccination has been a useful tool in the control of meningitis in Ghana. MenAfriVac, a conjugate vaccine against meningococcal serogroup A (MenA) has contributed to a drastic decline in serogroup A epidemics. This targeted 1–29-year-olds in 2012 with a subsequent nationwide routine immunization of 18-month-olds in 2016. However, cases due to other serogroups of meningococcus remain a public health concern in Ghana.
The current burden of the disease in Ghana emphasises the need for the upcoming multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines (MMCVs) which protect against multiple serogroups (ACWYX) as captured in the WHO's roadmap to defeat meningitis by 2030. With the aim of achieving the best-boosting advantage against meningococcal serogroup A, this talk will focus on exploring the optimal strategies for the control of MenA in Ghana.
Objectives
Analyze the current immunity profile due to MenAfriVac
Show the performance of a range of different vaccine scenarios including age targets and coverage levels against meningococcal serogroup A in Ghana
Share the implication of these results and future directions
Context
In this, the current immunity profile due to MenAfriVac will be first analysed. Following this, I will show the performance of a range of different vaccine scenarios including age targets and coverage levels against meningococcal serogroup A in Ghana. Finally, the implication of these results and the future directions will be shared.
Seminar Details
Mark Asare Owusu is currently a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Caroline Trotter at the University of Cambridge, UK. His work focuses on applying mathematical models to understand the epidemiology of meningitis to inform policy decisions on its control in Ghana. This research is in line with the WHO's objective to defeat meningitis by 2030. Prior to Mark's current study in Cambridge, he obtained both an MSc. and a BSc in Mathematics from AIMS-Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana respectively.
