High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso

Abstract Despite improved surveillance capacities and WHO recommendations for subdistrict analysis, routine epidemic surveillance of acute bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt remains largely limited to the district level. We evaluated the appropriateness and performance of analyses a...

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Main Authors: Maxime Woringer, Souleymane Porgho, Christophe Fermanian, Nadège Martiny, Avner Bar-Hen, Judith E. Mueller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2022-11-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23279-6
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author Maxime Woringer
Souleymane Porgho
Christophe Fermanian
Nadège Martiny
Avner Bar-Hen
Judith E. Mueller
author_facet Maxime Woringer
Souleymane Porgho
Christophe Fermanian
Nadège Martiny
Avner Bar-Hen
Judith E. Mueller
author_sort Maxime Woringer
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Despite improved surveillance capacities and WHO recommendations for subdistrict analysis, routine epidemic surveillance of acute bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt remains largely limited to the district level. We evaluated the appropriateness and performance of analyses at higher spatial resolution. We used suspected meningitis surveillance data at health centre (HC) resolution from Burkina Faso from 14 health districts spanning years 2004–2014 and analysed them using spatio-temporal statistics and generative models. An operational analysis compared epidemic signals at district and HC-level using weekly incidence thresholds. Eighty-four percent (N = 98/116) of epidemic clusters spanned only one HC-week. Spatial propagation of epidemic clusters was mostly limited to 10–30 km. During the 2004–2009 (with serogroup A meningitis) and 2010–2014 (after serogroup A elimination) period, using weekly HC-level incidence thresholds of 100 and 50 per 100,000 respectively, we found a gain in epidemic detection and timeliness in 9 (41% of total) and 10 (67%), respectively, district years with at least one HC signal. Individual meningitis epidemics expanded little in space, suggesting that a health centre level analysis is most appropriate for epidemic surveillance. Epidemic surveillance could gain in precision and timeliness by higher spatial resolution. The optimal threshold should be defined depending on the current background incidence of bacterial meningitis.
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spelling doaj.art-32fa5e6f9d464908bff48c04e0897d762022-12-22T04:15:07ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-011211910.1038/s41598-022-23279-6High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina FasoMaxime Woringer0Souleymane Porgho1Christophe Fermanian2Nadège Martiny3Avner Bar-Hen4Judith E. Mueller5ENS, École Normale SupérieureDirection de La Protection de La Santé de La Population, Ministry of HealthEHESP French School of Public HealthUMR6282 BIOGEOSCIENCES, University of BurgundyConservatoire National d’arts Et Métiers (CNAM)EHESP French School of Public HealthAbstract Despite improved surveillance capacities and WHO recommendations for subdistrict analysis, routine epidemic surveillance of acute bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt remains largely limited to the district level. We evaluated the appropriateness and performance of analyses at higher spatial resolution. We used suspected meningitis surveillance data at health centre (HC) resolution from Burkina Faso from 14 health districts spanning years 2004–2014 and analysed them using spatio-temporal statistics and generative models. An operational analysis compared epidemic signals at district and HC-level using weekly incidence thresholds. Eighty-four percent (N = 98/116) of epidemic clusters spanned only one HC-week. Spatial propagation of epidemic clusters was mostly limited to 10–30 km. During the 2004–2009 (with serogroup A meningitis) and 2010–2014 (after serogroup A elimination) period, using weekly HC-level incidence thresholds of 100 and 50 per 100,000 respectively, we found a gain in epidemic detection and timeliness in 9 (41% of total) and 10 (67%), respectively, district years with at least one HC signal. Individual meningitis epidemics expanded little in space, suggesting that a health centre level analysis is most appropriate for epidemic surveillance. Epidemic surveillance could gain in precision and timeliness by higher spatial resolution. The optimal threshold should be defined depending on the current background incidence of bacterial meningitis.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23279-6
spellingShingle Maxime Woringer
Souleymane Porgho
Christophe Fermanian
Nadège Martiny
Avner Bar-Hen
Judith E. Mueller
High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso
Scientific Reports
title High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso
title_full High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso
title_fullStr High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso
title_full_unstemmed High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso
title_short High-spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt in Burkina Faso
title_sort high spatial resolution epidemic surveillance of bacterial meningitis in the african meningitis belt in burkina faso
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23279-6
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