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In this issue:
- Taking on Typhoid in 2024 – a note from Dr. Kathy Neuzil, TyVAC director
- TCV protects for more than 4 years!
- Global collaboration takes center stage in Rwanda
- Nature Reviews Primer details typhoid burden, challenges, and benefits of TCVs
- New TCV approved in Indonesia
- Take on Typhoid website and materials updated with latest data
- Scientific publications
- Blogs
Taking on Typhoid in 2024 – a note from Dr. Kathy Neuzil, TyVAC director
As we begin 2024, we celebrate the highlights of 2023. Despite considerable public health challenges, Malawi showed the global community that an integrated campaign – with typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), measles-rubella and polio vaccines, and Vitamin A supplementation – was not just possible, but a resounding success! Coupled with new data on longer duration of vaccine efficacy and immunogenicity in Africa and Asia, favorable cost-effectiveness, and new tools to include serosurveys, environmental sampling, and needle-free TCVs, we are poised for a monumental year.
To date, more than 56 million children have received TCV through introduction campaigns and millions more are planned for 2024. Burkina Faso, slated to introduce TCV this year, will be the first Francophone African country to introduce the vaccine. It serves as an inspiring example of what can be accomplished through determination and partnership in a region with a high burden of disease and political challenges. Ongoing efforts throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia hold the promise of additional TCV applications to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance this year.
TyVAC and its partners encourage you to join us and Take on Typhoid in 2024.
TCV protects for more than 4 years!
Have you heard? New data from Malawi – published in the Lancet – show a single dose of TCV is 78% percent effective and provides over 4 years of protection. The study, led by Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW), found lasting efficacy in preventing typhoid in children ages 9 months to 12 years old. TCV offers a cost-effective way to prevent and control typhoid, which is increasingly important with growing drug resistance. These data support the long-lasting impacts of TCV, even in the youngest children. An accompanying commentary puts the findings into perspective, highlighting that a single dose of TCV is safe, well-tolerated, and effective at protecting against typhoid.
The TyVAC study in Malawi provides critical longer-term data for global and country-level decision-making in Africa and Asia.
Global collaboration takes center stage in Rwanda
The 13th International Conference on Typhoid & Other Invasive Salmonelloses, in Kigali Rwanda, from December 5th through 7th drew more than 350 participants from 44 countries. The conference featured a diverse array of oral abstracts, plenaries, and symposia. The sessions highlighted progress in research on enteric fever and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS), to include vaccine development, antimicrobial resistance, and surveillance. 
Throughout the three-day event, expert speakers presented cutting-edge research on typhoid, paratyphoid and iNTS, addressing existing challenges with disease control and prevention, while exploring innovative tools to overcome these challenges. The conference served as a valuable platform for the exchange of ideas among researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, promoting collaboration in the pursuit of practical solutions.
Participants left with fresh insights, strengthened connections, and a renewed commitment to the collective effort against typhoid and other invasive Salmonelloses.
Nature Reviews Primer details typhoid burden, challenges, and benefits of TCVs
A Nature Reviews Primer about typhoid and the burden of disease, risk factors, drug resistance, diagnostics, prevention, and more was recently published. The primer was written by a collaboration of global typhoid experts to highlight the importance of taking on typhoid together. Our recent blog shares more about the challenges to controlling typhoid including: poor sanitation and hygiene, drug resistance, lack of diagnostics in resource-limited settings, and climate change. In response to these challenges, TCVs offer a solution that is safe and cost-effective. TCVs, combined with improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), offer promise for a future with significantly reduced burden of disease.
New TCV approved in Indonesia
In a collaboration between the International Vaccine Institute and Bio Farma, a newly licensed TCV, Bio-TCV®, was approved for use in Indonesia among individuals 9 months to 45 years. The next step involves prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO), which will allow Bio-TCV® to join the global public market as a third affordable TCV.
Currently, WHO has prequalified two TCVs, Typbar TCV® (Bharat Biotech) and TYPHIBEV® (BioE). As countries make decisions and prepare to introduce TCV, the availability of multiple TCVs helps ensure access to these life-saving vaccines. This development marks a step forward in the global fight against typhoid.
Take on Typhoid website and materials updated with latest data
The Take on Typhoid website and materials are updated to reflect the progress achieved in 2023. All materials, including those for decision-makers, reflect the latest TCV durability of protection data and other recent milestones. We encourage you to access all materials here.
