Background. Meningococcal A meningitis epidemics were classic in Togo. After mass vaccination campaign against meningococcus A, Togo experienced an epidemic of meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis C from February 17 to March 30, 2019, in the district of Kpendjal West of the Savana region. Our objective was to identify factors associated with this disease in this district. Materials and methods. A matched case-control study on gender and health facility was conducted from January 1 to March 31, 2020, in the district during the period of the epidemic. A case was a person in West Kpendjal district from whom Neisseria meningitidis C was isolated by PCR. A control was defined as a person of the same sex as a case, who visited the same health facility during the same period but did not contract meningitis. We identified 35 cases and 140 controls. Result. Sex ratio M / F was 1.33. Recovery was without sequelae in the majority of cases (77.14%) and meningitis-related case fatality was 8.57%. Factors associated with the occurrence of meningitis were: meningococcal C vaccine status (ORa = 7,16; 95%CI = [1,02 – 49,79]; p = 0,04), promiscuity (ORa = 7,08; IC 95 % = [2,59 – 19,37]; p = 0,0001) and history of respiratory infection (aOR = 6,44; 95 %CI = [2,17 – 19,10]; p = 0,001). Conclusion. We found that history of respiratory infection, promiscuity and meningococcus C vaccination status were all independently associated with acute bacterial Neisseria meningitidis C meningitis during the outbreak in this district. All these factors are modifiable.

Meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis C, Togo