Expert says typhoid vaccination is crucial

Typhoid vaccinations are a vital step in Thailand’s efforts to curb outbreaks of the disease that claims more than 200,000 deaths a year in developing countries, a health expert says. Apart from providing sanitary and clean water to the public, vaccination is an important tool recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to prevent typhoid outbreak, said Christopher Nelson, director of the Coalition against Typhoid secretariat. Mr Nelson is in Bangkok attended the four-day International Congress on Infectious Diseases. About 2,500 experts from 100 countries were participating in the congress to discuss the latest advances in the prevention, control and treatment of infectious diseases, including typhoid. Mr Nelson said the cost of typhoid treatment had been increasing partly due to high rate of typhoid drug resistance. “Vaccination is the correct answer to prevent outbreaks, which can start with two-year-old children with a protection length of three years,” the expert said on Thursday. The WHO in 2009 recommended the...