Typhoid News
Brace for rainy day diseases — DOH
- Ahead of the rainy days, the Department of Health (DOH) is urging the public to get ready for the wet season by knowing how to combat the illnesses associated with it.
- “It is best to arm ourselves with weapons against these diseases even before the onset of the rainy season by building a strong resistance against these illnesses,” Duque said in a statement before the weekend.
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Duque noted it is also important to practice “personal hygiene and environmental sanitation” to keep diseases like diarrhea, water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, leptospirosis and vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue at bay.
Spike seen in typhoid and cholera cases in Ahmedabad
- Waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera have spiked in the city this May, as their numbers have risen compared to May 2018.
- According to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s health department, there were 537 cases of typhoid this May, compared to 359 cases last year, a 50% increase.
- There had been no cholera cases in May 2018, but 16 cases were registered this May.
Vaccine Is a Cost-Effective Solution for Countries Burdened by Typhoid
- Introducing a typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) into routine child vaccine schedules and conducting a catch-up campaign to vaccinate all children up to age 15 is a cost-effective solution for many low- to middle-income countries severely burdened by typhoid, a new study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health finds.
- The study is the first comprehensive analysis of the cost-effectiveness of different typhoid vaccination strategies for 54 countries hit hardest by typhoid — primarily located in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa — and where funding from Gavi, an international organization dedicated to vaccine introduction, is available.
- The study —published Thursday in Lancet Infectious Diseases — analyzed disease transmission rates, hospitalizations, mortality rates, vaccine-related costs and the financial resources of each country. Extensive computer modeling and analysis were applied to evaluate four strategies: no vaccination, routine immunization at nine months, or routine immunization at nine months with catch-up campaigns to either age 5 or age 15.
2,982 typhoid cases reported in Karachi
- Health Services Karachi has recorded 2,982 typhoid cases in Karachi city from 1st January to 14 May 2019 out of which 1765 are typhoid/paratyphoid fever and 1217 are S.thype-Ceftriaxone Resistant.
- The typhoid fever and S.thypi–Ceftriaxone Resistant cases are being reported across the Sindh province, particularly from Karachi city.
- The S.thypi-Ceftriaxone Resistant is much difficult to treat as compared to non-resistance typhoid.
- All reported cases have been confirmed through blood culture test from Aga Khan Hospital (AKH) as this facility is not available in secondary health facilities run by the Sindh government.
A curious case of hidden, dangerous typhoid: It’s time to take action now
- Typhoid bacterial strains in India are already resistant to the cheapest first and second line of antibiotics
- In 2017, when clinician scientist Gagandeep Kang and her colleagues started an extensive typhoid surveillance study across India, the general perception among the scientific community was that typhoid was significantly declining based on the data reported by big hospitals in India
- But when Kang’s team began to closely study people at the community level, it found about 20-fold increase in typhoid cases, mostly children, at most study centres in comparison to the numbers reported by the hospitals
What does Pakistan’s typhoid outbreak tell us?
- Pakistan is facing world’s largest extremely drug resistant (XDR) typhoid outbreak. More than 5,000 cases were reported from Hyderabad and Karachi in the first phase.
- Some 11 cases were reported in 2016, 730 in 2017 and 4,533 cases in 2018.
- The intensity was initially high at Hyderabad, but due to mass vaccination with a new WHO-prequalified conjugate vaccine, it was managed much better. Karachi, the nearest metropolitan centre, is facing a far more intense outbreak right now and needs immediate treatment and preventive measures.
Typhoid fever cases grow on Manus Island
- Two more refugees detained by Australia on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island have been diagnosed with typhoid fever.
- The men from India and Bangladesh were flown to Port Moresby on Sunday for treatment.
- Two other refugees with the contagious disease were transferred to the capital a week earlier.
NGT alarmed at post-Kumbh mess in Prayragraj, warns of epidemic
- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) administered a sharp rebuke to the Uttar Pradesh government for the thousands of tonnes of solid waste that piled up in Prayagraj and untreated sewage that flowed into the Ganga during the 49-day Kumbh mela, expressing concern that the city was on the verge of an increase in cases of diseases such as acute diarrhoea, enteric fever, viral hepatitis and cholera.
- It called for urgent steps to dispose off the solid waste that accumulated in the city during the Kumbh mela, which started on January 15 and concluded on March 4.
- Quoting the UP chief secretary, the NGT report said 60,000 tonnes of untreated solid waste had piled up at the Baswar solid waste treatment plant. Out of this figure, 18,000 tonnes had been generated during the Kumbh mela; the waste treatment plant hadn’t even been operational since September 2018.
- The NGT report predicted a rise in case of acute diarrhoea, enteric fever, viral hepatitis and cholera.
Typhoid fever strikes Manus Island refugees
- An outbreak of typhoid fever has struck refugees detained by Australia on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.
- Suspected cases of the illness are affecting men in all three refugee detention centres on the island.
- Fr Licini said food given to the men in the three camps was prepared in different kitchens but all were supplied with water from the same river.
- He estimated between 15 and 20 men were symptomatic.
IVI gets $15.7 million to conduct P3 trials for Vi-DT typhoid conjugate vaccine
- The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) said it has received a $15.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a typhoid conjugate vaccine for public sector markets.
- The grant will fund the phase 3 clinical trials of the Vi-DT typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) to take place in Nepal and the Philippines over the next two years.
- IVI Director General Jerome Kim also said, “With the launch of Phase 3 clinical trials, we have reached the final milestone in our quest to develop an innovative typhoid vaccine that should be safe and effective for children six months and older.”
Does a typhoid vaccine protect against multiple threats?
- A recent study investigated the protective effects of a typhoid vaccine against microbes that are not the target of prevention.
- Analysis of immune system cells called monocytes revealed their activation in vaccinated individuals for a period of over three months after vaccination.
- This analysis showed that white blood cells from vaccinated individuals initiated a response against microbes unrelated to typhoid fever by producing specific cytokines, which are messenger molecules of the immune system.
Typhoid cases up 65 percent in El Salvador
- The El Salvador Ministry of Health (MINSAL) is reporting increases in typhoid fever this year to date as compared to the same period in 2018
- Through the first twelve weeks of 2019, 517 cases have been reported. This is an 65 percent increase compared to the 313 cases reported this time last year.
Africa’s first-ever mass typhoid fever vaccination campaign ends in Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwe is the first country in Africa to have the vaccine and to have used it in the continent’s first-ever mass typhoid vaccination campaign as well as one that was launched in response to an outbreak situation.
- The eight-day campaign took place in nine high-density Harare suburbs from25 February to 4 March. The Zimbabwe Government, through the Ministry of Health and Child Care and in collaboration with WHO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and other partners, had planned to vaccinate 370 000 people, mostly children and adolescents, and had reached 73% of the targeted population in the first six days of the campaign.
- In the first five days, the campaign sought out schools and nurseries, where the targeted age group could be easily reached in the key areas of Harare before fanning out through communities and clinics.
Mass typhoid vaccinations begin
- Zimbabwe became the first country in Africa to vaccinate against typhoid
- The nine typhoid hotspots that are being targeted are Mufakose, Budiriro, Glen View, Glen Norah, Kuwadzana, Mbare, Hatcliffe, Hopley and Dzivaresekwa
- The nine selected high-density and typhoid-burdened suburbs in Harare started receiving vaccinations against typhoid February 24, with the operation expected to end on March 4
Kudat health officials confirm typhoid outbreak
- Kudat, Malaysia health office has declared a typhoid fever outbreak in the district after five people were confirmed to have contracted the disease
- Cases were confirmed as typhoid by Hospital Queen Elizabeth’s pathology department in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday, Feb 21
- Kudat district officer Sapdin Ibrahim said the situation was still under control and that the outbreak was brought in by those coming in from the Philippines
Typhoid vaccination campaign to tackle outbreak in Zimbabwe
- This is the second wave of a major typhoid outbreak in Harare which first began in October 2017. This second wave began in September 2018 and has so far resulted in 1,810 cases and two deaths.
- The campaign aims to vaccinate 325,000 people in nine suburbs of Zimbabwe’s capital. It will be the first campaign in Africa to use a new typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) which, unlike other typhoid vaccines, can be administered to young children and has long-lasting immunity.
‘Reborn’ typhoid vaccine to be introduced in Zimbabwe in a bid to halt drug resistance
- Zimbabwe is set to vaccinate over 300,000 people against typhoid in a bid to stop an outbreak that has been ongoing since 2017 which includes drug-resistant strains of the disease
- Children aged between six months and 15 years old will be vaccinated in eight suburbs in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, while in one suburb, Mbare, the campaign will target those aged between six months and 45 years old
Bharat Biotech to supply 2 lakh doses of typhoid vaccine to Pakistan
- Indian vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech will ship two lakh doses of its typhoid vaccine to Pakistan
- Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech on Friday said they received a request from Aga Khan University of Karachi to immediately despatch the vaccine to tackle the severe outbreak of drug resistant typhoid fever
Pakistan approaches Indian firm to buy vaccine against XDR typhoid
- Pakistani health authorities have approached an Indian vaccine manufacturer, Bharat Biotech International Limited, for the supply of typhoid conjugate vaccine to contain the Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR) typhoid, which has claimed over a dozen lives in Sindh alone and has become highly endemic in the province, especially in Karachi
- Bharat Biotech International Limited is the only manufacturer of the typhoid conjugate vaccine that is sold under the brand name “Typbar TCV” and it is the world’s first clinically proven conjugate typhoid vaccine.
- “The federal government has approached the Indian vaccine manufacturer through the GAVI Alliance to provide us the typhoid conjugate vaccine, which is the only vaccine prequalified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to prevent XDR typhoid,” Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho told journalists in Karachi
We’re Not Using One of Our Best Weapons against Drug-Resistant Microbes
- But now in the coming months we’ll see the first large-scale uses of a vaccine that also has a potentially huge role to play in reducing AMR. This is a vaccine that protects against typhoid, which is one of the biggest drivers of drug resistance.
- TCV is more effective than existing vaccines and offers longer protection, but it can also be given to younger children thereby covering a larger proportion of the population. In places like Karachi, where antibiotic resistance is increasing by 30 per cent annually and may reach a point where all cases will be resistant to multiple drugs as early as next year, having greater vaccination coverage to prevent the disease will go a long way.
- The vaccine has already been used locally to reduce the spread of the outbreak, and plans are in place to introduce this vaccination nationally later this year.