A promising new one-dose cholera vaccination strategy could save lives during outbreaks

A promising new one-dose cholera vaccination strategy could save lives during outbreaks. A new cholera control strategy using a single-dose of oral vaccine instead of two is sufficient to protect against the deadly disease during an outbreak, according to a study published by MSF in the Lancet Global Health this week. To evaluate the effectiveness of the new strategy first used in Juba, South Sudan, a study was conducted by MSF, in collaboration with its research arm Epicentre, the Ministry of Health, John Hopkins University and the World Health Organization. The study found that the single-dose vaccine was 87.3 per cent effective in reducing cholera for up to two months among the nearly 900 people who took part in the study. While oral vaccines have proven effective in preventing cholera during outbreaks, current two-dose strategies are logistically challenging to implement during emergencies. In addition, the global shortage of oral cholera vaccine currently makes...