Malawi has begun a nationwide distribution of the latest typhoid vaccination for children under the age of 15.
The vaccination was proven to be safe and effective in more than 80% of participants after a two-year trial, the first in Africa. According to health officials, the vaccination is likely to lower the threat of a disease that kills almost 20,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa each year.
Typhoid fever is a contagious bacterial infection caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or drink. Its symptoms include nausea, fever, and stomach discomfort, and it can be deadly if left untreated.
Typhoid conjugate vaccination (TCV) dissemination will be a part of a statewide programme that will begin on Monday and inoculate youngsters against measles, rubella, and polio, according to Malawian health officials.
Some worry that the campaign would run into scepticism and opposition from the populace, as happened with the COVID-19 vaccine, which resulted in the burning of nearly 20,000 doses that were over their expiration date in Malawi in 2021.
In Malawi, the Universal Health Coverage Coalition’s head, George Jobe, told VOA that efforts were made to inform people of the campaign’s significance.
“There was training for community health care workers as well as teachers so that they take messages to community leaders, who would also take messages to their subjects,” Jobe said.
Cases
With an estimated 1.2 million cases and 19,000 fatalities each year in sub-Saharan Africa, typhoid has long been a concern to public health in Malawi.
The first nation to employ TCV in clinical studies to treat paediatric typhoid infections was Malawi in 2018.
A clinical trial in Malawi involving more than 20,000 kids aged 9 months to 12 years was overseen by Professor Melita Gordon of the University of Liverpool. The vaccine was determined to be safe and to be more than 80% effective during the experiment.
