This week WAidid suggets the reading of the study published on NEJM Efficacy of a Single-Dose, Inactivated Oral Cholera Vaccine in Bangladesh on Shanchol, a new killed whole-cell-only oral cholera vaccine.

SUMMARY:
Cholera remains a serious global health problem. In 2009, a public–private partnership in India developed and licensed a new killed whole-cell-only oral cholera vaccine (Shanchol, Shantha Biotechnics). It has been argued that this vaccine would be more useful if it could be administered as a single-dose regimen, which would be easier to administer during cholera epidemics. This trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose in an urban setting in Bangladesh.
Nonpregnant residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh, who were 1 year of age or older were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of oral cholera vaccine or oral placebo. The primary outcome was vaccine protective efficacy against culture-confirmed cholera occurring 7 to 180 days after dosing.
A total of 101 episodes of cholera, 37 associated with severe dehydration, were detected among the 204,700 persons who received one dose of vaccine or placebo. The vaccine protective efficacy was 40%, against all cholera episodes, 63% against severely dehydrating cholera episodes, and 63% against all cholera episodes among persons vaccinated at the age of 5 to 14 years, 15 or more years, and 1 to 4 years, respectively. A single dose of the oral cholera vaccine was efficacious in older children (≥5 years of age) and in adults in a setting with a high level of cholera endemicity.

AUTHORS: 
Firdausi Qadri, Thomas F. Wierzba, Mohammad Ali, Fahima Chowdhury, Ashraful I. Khan, Amit Saha, Iqbal A. Khan, Muhammad Asaduzzaman, Afroza Akter, Arifuzzaman Khan, Yasmin A. Begum, Taufiqur R. Bhuiyan, Farhana Khanam, Mohiul I. Chowdhury, Taufiqul Islam, Atique I. Chowdhury, Anisur Rahman, Shah A. Siddique, Young A. You, Deok R. Kim, Ashraf U. Siddik, Nirod C. Saha, Alamgir Kabir, Alejandro Cravioto, Sachin N. Desai, Ajit P. Singh, and John D. Clemens.

To read the article online clic here