{
  "abstract": "BackgroundMeningitis remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. We aimed to quantify the association between vaccine introduction and meningitis- related disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rates globally and across high-burden regions from 2000 to 2023.\n\nMethodsWe conducted a longitudinal panel study of 188 countries using health metrics from the Global Burden of Disease study and WHO vaccine data. We estimated associations using two-way fixed effects regression models, adjusting for GDP and healthcare access. Analyses were stratified by baseline burden and included the African meningitis belt.\n\nFindingsGlobally, meningitis DALY rates declined by 4.97% per year (p<0.0001). Introduction of the Hib vaccine was associated with a 6.7% reduction in DALY rates, and PCV with a 4.8% reduction. In high-burden countries, both vaccines were associated with larger reductions ([~]10%), while no significant effects were detected in low-burden settings. In the African meningitis belt, PCV introduction was associated with a substantial 16.8% reduction in DALY rates (p<0.0001). No significant global association was observed for meningococcal vaccines.\n\nInterpretationGlobal declines in meningitis burden are strongly associated with Hib and PCV scale-up, with the greatest benefits in high-burden settings. These findings support prioritized vaccine deployment in endemic regions to maximize public health impact. However, the presence of pre-treatment trends for Hib suggests these estimates represent vaccine-associated population-level changes rather than strictly causal effects.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Amran University"
  ],
  "article_type": "PUBLISHAHEADOFPRINT",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "K. M. Al-Dhayani"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/517p3m9686ba3.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.14.26363017",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.26363017v1.full",
  "id": "517p3m9686ba3",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.26363017v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "medrxiv",
      "epidemiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.26363017v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-14",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/517p3m9686ba3.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:39Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.14.26363017",
      "source": "medrxiv",
      "url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.26363017v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "medrxiv:epidemiology",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Global trends and vaccine-associated changes in meningitis burden, 2000-2023: a multi-country ecological panel study",
  "title_text": "Global trends and vaccine-associated changes in meningitis burden, 2000-2023: a multi-country ecological panel study",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:39Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/517p3m9686ba3",
  "venue": "medRxiv",
  "versions": []
}