Global trends and vaccine-associated changes in meningitis burden, 2000-2023: a multi-country ecological panel study

The study analyzed the impact of vaccine introduction on global changes in meningitis burden across 188 countries from 2000 to 2023. Results showed that global meningitis rates declined by 4.97% annually. The Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine was associated with a 6.7% reduction and pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) with a 4.8% reduction. In high-burden countries, both vaccines were associated with larger reductions of approximately 10%. In the African meningitis belt, PCV introduction was associated with a substantial 16.8% reduction. The study concluded that global decline in meningitis burden is strongly associated with Hib and PCV scale-up, with the greatest benefits in high-burden regions.