Dr. Buddha Basnyat
“Typhoid is responsible for nearly 12 million cases of illness and more than 128,000 deaths each year, mostly among infants and children. WHO’s recommendation on typhoid conjugate vaccines is a major step in reducing the burden of this disease and helping children to thrive,” said Dr. Buddha Basnyat, leader of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Nepal. “Incorporating TCVs into national immunization programs in countries where the threat of typhoid is greatest can reduce the number of cases and the needless deaths associated with typhoid, especially among young children.”
Dr. Samuel Kariuki
“Globally, Africa carries the second largest burden of typhoid and we need new tools to protect children from this disease,” said Dr. Samuel Kariuki, chief research scientist and director of the Centre for Microbiology Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute. “Typhoid conjugate vaccines have several advantages over the other typhoid vaccines, including longer-lasting protection, a one-dose regimen, and approval for use in children younger than two. They have great potential to prevent typhoid illness and death in children, the most vulnerable to this disease. The WHO’s recommendation for typhoid conjugate vaccines to be included in routine immunization programs is a great development for the prevention of typhoid in Africa and around the world, paving the way for countries to deploy these vaccines where they are needed most.”
Dr. Stephen Luby
“We are currently at a critical time for typhoid prevention. Rising urbanization across cities in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is adding further demand to over-extended drinking water systems and inadequate sanitation systems, creating an enabling environment for typhoid to spread,” said Dr. Stephen Luby, senior fellow at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment & Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. “Moreover, due to rising drug resistance, we are running out of effective antibiotics to treat cases. There is an urgent need for effective typhoid prevention measures, and typhoid conjugate vaccines are one of the best fast acting tools we have. With WHO’s recommendation, these lifesaving vaccines are closer to reaching the children who need them the most.”
Dr. Kathleen Neuzil
“We know that typhoid disproportionately impacts young children in low-resource settings where water and sanitation systems may be lacking. We also know that vaccines work to protect children from typhoid, which remains common in many countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and continues to sicken nearly 12 million people each year,” said Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “With WHO’s recommendation to introduce typhoid conjugate vaccines into routine childhood immunization programs, we are closer than ever to eliminating typhoid as a global health threat.”
Dr. Firdausi Qadri
“Typhoid continues to be widespread in many parts of the world, causing needless suffering for children and their families when the disease strikes,” said Dr. Firdausi Qadri, leader of the Infectious Disease Division at icddr,b. “We strongly applaud the World Health Organization’s recommendation for typhoid conjugate vaccines, the first to be approved for children as young as six months of age, to protect infants and children from this disease.”
Dr. Farah Qamar
“Drug- and multidrug-resistant cases of typhoid are becoming more common and increasingly difficult to treat with available antibiotics. With Pakistan’s outbreak of ceftriaxone-resistant typhoid, the first outbreak showing resistance to this commonly used antibiotic, I have seen firsthand the importance and urgency of prevention through vaccines,” said Dr. Farah Qamar, associate professor in pediatrics and child health at Aga Khan University. “The WHO recommendation for typhoid conjugate vaccines, the first typhoid vaccine that can be used in infants, will help save children’s lives around the world by protecting them from this disease before they get sick.”
Dr. Duncan Steele
“Typhoid may seem like a disease of the past, but it continues to be a major source of illness and deaths in many low- and middle-income countries,” said Dr. Duncan Steele, deputy director and strategic lead for enteric vaccines at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Typhoid conjugate vaccines, now recommended by the World Health Organization, provide countries with an effective tool to protect those most vulnerable to this disease: infants and children.”
Habib Yakubu
“Unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation systems in many low- and middle-income countries cause typhoid transmission. An integrated approach of vaccines alongside water, sanitation, and hygiene improvements is key to preventing suffering from typhoid and other waterborne diseases,” said Habib Yakubu, lead public health program associate at the Center for Global Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. “Typhoid conjugate vaccines will help prevent illness and deaths especially among hard-to-reach, high-risk populations without adequate water and sanitation.”
