Cholera Oral Vaccine: WHO Prequalifies a New Simplified Vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) granted prequalification to a novel oral cholera vaccine on April 12. The Euvichol-S oral vaccine, which is inactivated, demonstrates comparable effectiveness to the current vaccines, while it is also a simplified formulation. The simple formulation becomes an advantage and presents the potential for enhancing the production capacity (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
WHO prequalifies new oral simplified vaccine for cholera

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What is Cholera?

Cholera is an acute gastrointestinal infection resulting from consuming contaminated food or water containing the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

According to WHO, Cholera is a severe illness that can lead to intense acute watery diarrhea accompanied by severe dehydration.

After consumption of contaminated food or water, it takes between 12 hours and 5 days for the symptoms to develop. Both children and adults are susceptible to cholera and if left untreated, it can lead to death in a matter of few hours (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
WHO prequalifies new oral simplified vaccine for cholera

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Cholera can be anticipated and avoided by taking proper care.

It is important to safeguard and maintain access to clean water and sanitation facilities and promote good hygiene practices for the entire population. All these steps will help eradicate this disease.

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Advantages of the New Vaccine

Dr. Rogerio Gaspar, Director of the WHO Department for Regulation and Prequalification, stated, “The new vaccine is the third product of the same family of vaccines we have for cholera in our WHO prequalification list,”. Gaspar added, “The new prequalification is hoped to enable a rapid increase in production and supply which many communities battling with cholera outbreaks urgently need (3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Multi-country outbreak of cholera

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The prequalifications already granted by WHO include Euvichol and Euvichol-Plus, both are inactivated oral cholera vaccines manufactured by Eu Biologicals Co., Ltd, Republic of Korea. This company is also responsible for manufacturing the new vaccine, Euvichol-S.

Vaccines are the most efficient way to minimize and manage cholera outbreaks. However, some countries have been facing severe deficiencies in other aspects of cholera prevention and management, such as access to clean and good quality water, good hygiene practices, and sanitation, and the vaccine supplies in these countries are at the lowest level.

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Data on Cholera Cases

At present, cholera outbreaks are being reported in 23 countries, with the most significant effects being observed in the Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (4^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Cholera cases soar globally; Malawi, Haiti deadliest outbreaks, WHO reports

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In 2022, the World Health Organization reported 473,000 cases of cholera, which was twice the number recorded in 2021. An additional 700,000 cases were projected for 2023. Between January 1, 2023, and February 29, 2024, there was a combined total of 250,649 cases of cholera documented in 18 countries within the African region only.

As per UN agencies, over 667,000 global cases of cholera have been reported in 2024 amd more than 4,000 deaths were recorded last year.

Cholera cases have been increasing since 2021and the mortality rates are high, in spite of access to cost-effective treatments. This has led to a significant increase in demand for vaccines, worldwide. The Euvichol-S vaccine is a breakthrough advancement, facilitating the production of large quantities of vaccines to meet the surging demands. The prequalification of Euvichol-S by WHO will be a crucial support under these circumstances.

References:

1. WHO prequalifies new oral simplified vaccine for cholera - (https://www.who.int/news/item/18-04-2024-who-prequalifies-new-oral-simplified-vaccine-for-cholera)
2. WHO prequalifies new oral simplified vaccine for cholera - (https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1223219)
3. Multi-country outbreak of cholera - (https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20240314_multi-country_outbreak-of-cholera_sitrep_12.pdf)
4. Cholera cases soar globally; Malawi, Haiti deadliest outbreaks, WHO reports - (https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145572)

Source-Medindia