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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
November 15, 2023
Since the end of the pandemic, the number of meningococcal cases has exploded in France. How to explain such a rebound? And above all, how to protect yourself from it? Dr. Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo, answers us.
According to the ARS, meningococcus B is the bacteria responsible for invasive meningococcal infection; an unpredictable and devastating illness which can lead to shock, coma or death within a few hours. The problem ? Meningococcal meningitis is experiencing an “unprecedented rebound” in France, according to thePastor Institute. Update on this announcement.
+ 36% cases of meningococcus
It was this Monday that the Pasteur Institute sounded the alert, based on the figures from a study published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health.
According to the organization, nearly 421 cases have already been recorded between January and September 2023, an increase of 36%.even though the winter peak has not yet occurred“.
Levels “never reached” in France, according to Muhamed-Kheir Taha, head of the National Reference Center for Meningococci. For comparison, only 298 cases were recorded between January and September 2019.
So how to explain it?
According to Dr. Kierzek, “bacterial ecology has changed (the place and role of microorganisms in a habitat, editor’s note) as has our immunity. Following the pandemic, strict hygiene measures were deployed, which reduced infections but also our immune reactions. There has also been a decline in vaccination”.
The study makes the same hypotheses.
The first being the “reduction in general immunity following the reduction in the circulation of strains“and the second”the decline in vaccination, which fell by 20% for vaccination against meningococcus C during the first confinement”.
Adolescents are most affected
Another observation from the study: adolescents seem to be more affected by the disease.
“If all age categories are affected, it turns out that those most affected by this new wave of meningitis are young people aged 16 to 24.“, specifies Ala-Eddine Deghmane, deputy head of the National Reference Center for Meningococci at the Pasteur Institute.
Strong contamination of the youngest, which can be explained by different reasons.
“They do not benefit from compulsory vaccination, they have relatively low immunity and they frequent promiscuous places, such as bars or nightclubs where strains circulate and are potentially transmitted.“, relates Dr. Kierzek.
In fact, the Pasteur Institute is calling for the vaccine to be extended to adolescents, who are particularly affected.
Dr. Kierzek, for his part, reminds us of the behavior to follow:In the event of symptoms (headache, stiff neck, vomiting and loss of appetite in babies, etc.) we do not leave it lying around and we consult. Then, we get vaccinated: the meningitis C vaccine is mandatory for infants, the meningitis B vaccine is strongly recommended for children and the tetravalent is recommended for fragile people such as those who are immunocompromised.he concludes.