Investigation of correlates of protection against pharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis genogroups W and Y in the African meningitis belt.

Background: Serum bactericidal antibody titres that correlate with protection against invasive meningococcal disease have been characterised. However, titres that are associated with protection against acquisition of pharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis are not known.

Methods: Sera were obtained from the members of a household in seven countries of the African meningitis belt in which a pharyngeal carrier of N.

Population-Level Persistence of Immunity 2 Years After the PsA-TT Mass-Vaccination Campaign in Mali.

Background: In 2010, Africa's first preventive meningococcal mass vaccination campaign was launched using a newly developed Neisseria meningitidis group A (NmA) polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine, PsA-TT (MenAfriVac), designed specifically for the meningitis belt. Given PsA-TT's recent introduction, the duration of protection against meningococcal group A is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a household-based, age-stratified seroprevalence survey in Bamako, Mali, in 2012, 2 years after the vaccination campaign targeted all 1- to 29-year-olds.

HIV seroprevalence surveys in Nigerien pregnant women: a comparison between 2002 and 2006.

In the framework of HIV serosurveillance, serosurveys in pregnant women are a good alternative to population-based surveys, which are more difficult to implement. In 2002 and 2006, surveys were conducted in Niger to assess the HIV seroprevalence in pregnant women and to evaluate the trend of the HIV epidemic. The overall seroprevalence was 0.