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The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends administering a single typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) dose to children in high-burden countries. To better determine the TCV's efficacy, researchers extended the follow-up of the TyVAC clinical trial to assess protection five years after vaccination.
Published by The Lancet (Volume 404, Issue 10461) on October 12, 2024, these researchers conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN11643110) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between 2018 and 2021.
This study identified a decline in the protection conferred by a single-dose TCV 3–5 years after vaccination, with the greatest decline in protection and immune responses observed in children vaccinated at younger ages.
These researchers suggest that a booster dose of TCV around school entry age might be needed for children vaccinated when younger than two years old to sustain protection against typhoid fever during the school years when the risk is the highest.
This recommendation is essential as about nine million typhoid cases and 93,300 related fatalities are reported annually worldwide. Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. It is usually spread through contaminated food or water.
The WHO currently recommends four different TCVs. These vaccines have been established as safe, well-tolerated, and effective.
The WHO writes that travelers to destinations with a high risk of typhoid fever be offered a typhoid vaccination. TVCs are available at travel clinics and pharmacies in the U.S.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded this study.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today it has identified a higher-than-expected number of chikungunya cases among U.S. travelers returning from the state of Telangana, India.
On November 8, 2024, the CDC issued a Level 2—Practice Enhanced Precautions, Travel Health Advisory to alert travelers to India's ongoing chikungunya outbreak. In 2024, India reported 69,395 chikungunya cases.
Telangana is located in the south-central region of India, with a population of about 35 million. The USA is generally the largest source of foreign tourists arriving in India annually.
As of early November 2024, the CDC reported that 153 people had been infected with chikungunya while traveling abroad. Last year, only 129 cases were confirmed.
People at risk for more severe disease include newborns infected around the time of birth, older adults, and people with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease. The CDC stated that if you are pregnant, reconsider travel to the state of Telangana, mainly if you are close to delivering your baby.
The CDC recommends vaccination against chikungunya for (most) adults traveling to a destination with a current outbreak.
In late 2023, the U.S. FDA approved Valneva SE's IXCHIQ®, the first vaccine to address chikungunya virus infections in adults. IXCHIQ is commercially available in the U.S. at most travel clinics and pharmacies.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) confirmed that seven countries reported new polio cases involving wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) last week.
As of November 6, 2024, Pakistan reported 45 WPV1 cases this year. With 53 WPV1-positive environmental samples collected in September and October, Pakistan's outbreak may continue for months.
Five countries in Africa reported more vaccine-derived poliovirus cases, including Senegal, which had its first circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) case for the year. The other four are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, and Nigeria.
In the Middle East, Yemen reported two cVDPV2 cases with paralysis onset in September.
The U.S. CDC's travel health advisory continues to identify 37 countries at risk for poliovirus outbreaks.
The CDC says that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series may receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine before traveling to any destination listed. Pre-departure polio vaccination services are offered at travel clinics and pharmacies in the U.S.
Health authorities recently reported a yellow fever virus outbreak in the Republic of Colombia.
As of November 7, 2024, the government announced that 26 yellow fever cases were reported primarily in the Tolima province during 2024.
For this reason, Columbia's Ministry of Health and Social Protection and regional health authorities activated the "Epidemic Logical Barrier."
One of the measures taken was to advance a mass vaccination campaign in the priority municipalities. This vaccination activity was carried out on November 2, 2024. In Columbia, the Stamaril yellow fever vaccine is available.
As of week #35 of 2024, 38 confirmed cases of yellow fever have been reported in the Americas Region, including 19 deaths. Outbreaks were reported mainly throughout the Amazon region of Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana.
Yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Its symptoms may include fever, muscle aches, headache, and, in some severe cases, jaundice and bleeding. The fatality rate is up to 50%. Early identification of symptoms is crucial as they can be confused with other diseases.
According to the U.S. CDC, yellow fever vaccination is required and/or recommended for visitors, depending upon specific criteria. In the U.S., the YF-Vax vaccine is available at travel vaccine clinics and pharmacies in 2024.
The CDC has also alerted visitors to Columbia of health risks for chikungunya, dengue, and, most recently, Oropouche outbreaks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in early 2024, then in October 2024, that the global demand (74 million) for oral cholera vaccine (OCV) has exceeded the supply (38 million). According to news announced today, the OCV shortage could be ending.
Valneva SE announced on November 7, 2024, that DUKORAL® sales in the third quarter of 2024 grew 85% year-over-year as marketing investments resumed following a successful regulatory inspection of the company’s new vaccine manufacturing site in Sweden.
The WHO has prequalified the DUKORAL vaccine, and it is authorized in Europe, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom to protect people against cholera and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.
Dukoral is used in people aged from 2 years who will be visiting areas with a high risk of cholera.
The WHO classified the global resurgence of cholera as a grade 3 emergency. As of the end of September 2024, a total of 439,724 cholera cases and 3,432 deaths were reported across five WHO regions this year.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. The Company's press release disclosed that Third-Quarter 2024 total revenues were $293.8 million, an increase of 9% compared to the prior year.
And that revenues from Smallpox Medical Countermeasures (MCM) products increased 437% compared with Q3 2023.
Smallpox MCM revenues were $108.0 million from ACAM2000®, VIGIV, and TEMBEXA® product transactions. The revenue increase was primarily due to the timing of U.S. government purchases of ACAM2000® and VIGIV.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Emergent a contract in September 2019 valued at approximately $2 billion over ten years for the continued supply of ACAM2000 into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.
"Through disciplined execution and steady, measurable progress, Emergent's financial position is the strongest it has been since 2021, as evidenced by our favorable third-quarter results," stated CEO Joe Papa on November 6, 2024.
ACAM2000 is a second-generation live vaccinia virus, cell-cultured, replication-competent, single-dose vaccine that protects people against mpox and smallpox diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published 'Vaccines and Immunization for mpox: Interim Guidance, as did the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which expanded access via the Investigational New Drug Protocol, allowing ACAM2000 use to prevent mpox on June 30, 2022.
In August 2024, the WHO declared the increasing number of mpox cases reported in the African Region a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) for mpox has allocated an initial 899,000 vaccine doses for nine countries across the African region that are hit hard by the current Clade Ib mpox surge.
By the end of 2024, over 5.85 million vaccine doses are expected to be available to the Mpox Vaccines AAM.
As of November 6, 2024, the most significant number of JYNNEOS vaccine doses, 85% of the allocation, will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the most affected country, reporting 80% of laboratory-confirmed mpox cases in Africa in 2024.
Limited vaccination with Bavarian Nordic A/S MVA-BN® (JYNNEOS®) has recently begun in the DRC and Rwanda.
The Mediterranean coast of France is known to many vacationers for its lovely scenery and world-class resorts. In 2023, southern Europe alone accounted for about 500 million arrivals.
However, in 2024, mainland France may experience a record number of mosquito-transmitted diseases, mainly along the Mediterranean.
As of October 30, 2024, Public Health France reported over 4,000 imported cases of dengue, 18 of chikungunya, and 5 of Zika virus in 2024.
Furthermore, the European CDC recently confirmed that 82 locally-acquired dengue cases have been reported in Var (38), Alpes-Maritimes (19 cases), Vaucluse (18), and other departments.
While France has not yet declared dengue endemic, cases in 2024 have eclipsed the entire 2023 mosquito season. In 2023, France only reported 45 autochthonous (local) dengue infections.
From a disease prevention perspective, chikungunya and dengue have approved vaccines available, but Zika vaccine candidates have yet to be authorized in 2024.
While the U.S. CDC does not suggest these vaccines when visiting France, they are generally available in 2024. The CDC recommends that international travelers speak with a vaccine expert at least one month before traveling abroad.
