Meningitis Outbreak Sweeps Russia

The leader in the number of infections is Moscow.

In Russia, 1,266 meningitis patients have been identified since the beginning of the year - twice as many as in the whole of 2024, when 600 cases were recorded, the chief freelance infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health Vladimir Chulanov reported at a meeting in the State Duma. We are talking about patients with generalized forms of meningococcal infection A, B and C, affecting a significant part of the nervous system. Among the diseased are 948 adults and 318 children. The leader in the number of infected remains Moscow: it accounts for more than 50% of the registered cases of meningitis.

Alexei Rtischev, the chief pediatric infectious disease specialist of the Central Administrative District of the capital Alexei Rtischev, "in the last three years, the skew among the diseased goes towards the adult population, it happens at the expense of migrant workers". About 60% of those infected are foreigners who came to work, confirmed Natalya Pshenichnaya, deputy director for clinical and analytical work at Rospotrebnadzor's Central Research Institute of Epidemiology.

Meningococcal infection affects the nervous system and internal organs - the heart, liver, lungs and joints - often leading to death. Chulanov said the lethality rate among adults has already reached 16%, and for people over 60, the figure exceeds 30%. "Every tenth person who falls ill with meningitis dies, and every fifth survivor remains disabled," said co-chairman of the All-Russian Patients' Union Yuri Zhulev.

Experts attribute the surge in infection to low vaccination coverage. It is not included in the National Vaccination Calendar, which means it is not done for free. In some regions, including Moscow, vaccination against meningitis is carried out on epidemiological indications in case of an outbreak. Also in the capital, since 2021, children are obligatorily vaccinated against this disease. This allowed to reduce their share among the infected to 15%. Experts suggest expanding the vaccination program to include schoolchildren, students and migrants.

In 2024, 15% of the diseased died of meningitis in Russia, and in 2023 - 19%, said the president of the Children's Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases FMBA Yuri Lobzin. He noted that meningococcal infection is "the highest in lethality among all vaccine-preventable diseases," including "not comparable with influenza and covirus," from which 0.5-2.5% of patients die.

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