Pediatric typhoid vaccine effective up to 3 years, study finds
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A pediatric typhoid vaccine provided immunity for up to 3 years in children as young as 9 months old, according to a study published in The Lancet Global Health.
In a follow-up of a 2-year study published last year in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers further examined effects of Typbar TCV — a WHO-prequalified tetanus-toxoid conjugated Vi polysaccharide typhoid conjugate vaccine (Vi-TCV) containing 25 g of Vi polysaccharide per 0.5 mL dose — among children aged 9 months to 12 years living in Blantyre, Malawi.
Co-author Matthew B. Laurens, MD, MPH is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
“Before now, we've only had vaccines that work in kids up to 2 years, and they weren't really implemented, for many reasons, in areas where kids need it most,” Laurens told Healio. “So a vaccine that you can give to this younger population allows for earlier protection and also allows for an immune response that is potentially quite long lasting. All of that was really promising.”
Laurens and colleagues assigned 631 children aged 9 months to 12 years with no immunosuppression or chronic health conditions to receive either the TCV typhoid vaccine (n = 320) or a vaccine for meningococcal serogroup A (MCV-A) conjugate, which is routinely used in Africa (n = 311) as a control.
Ultimately, the researchers found that in the TCV recipients, anti-Vi IgG geometric mean titers increased more than 500 times from day 28, then decreased but remained more than 11 times higher than baseline, whereas titers among MCV-A recipients were unchanged.
Laurens said it was “reassuring” to know that the vaccine protection would be “long lasting, that the immune responses do appear to last for 2 to 3 years at least.”
“A dose of this vaccine is very powerful in terms of its ability to ensure that kids can lead a healthy life early on,” Laurens said.
He added that it would be necessary to generate more information for policymakers and public health officials to make informed decisions about adding the vaccine to the routine vaccination schedule.
“We can expect long protection from this vaccine going forward,” Laurens said. “So, we would encourage governments and other public health officials to strongly consider introducing this vaccine to routine vaccinations.”
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