Bangladesh Typhoid Vaccination Campaign Protects 50 Million Kids

Bangladesh launches a nationwide typhoid vaccination campaign to protect 50 million children with the WHO-approved TCV, aiming to stop drug-resistant outbreaks

Bangladesh officially kicked off a national typhoid vaccination drive to vaccinate millions of youngsters against the life-threatening and drug-resistant illness. The four-week program launched on Sunday with the intent to immunize almost 50 million youths aged between nine months to 15 years with one dose of the Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV).

WHO-approved and pre-qualified, the TCV protects against typhoid fever for up to five years and is being distributed free of cost as part of the government's Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). Bangladesh typhoid vaccination campaign across the entire nation of Bangladesh is a landmark event in the region's sustained efforts towards building stronger child health as a barrier to preventable diseases.

Aiming to Protect 50 Million Children

Health workers throughout Bangladesh are giving the vaccine at school, at community clinics, and house-to-house. Extra effort is being made to cover urban slums and hard-to-reach rural areas, where typhoid is most prevalent because these areas lack easy access to sanitation facilities and safe water. The campaign will run to November 13, then TCV will be incorporated into the regular routine of immunization activities in Bangladesh.

Authorities believe that this Bangladesh typhoid vaccination campaign is among the biggest childhood immunization activities within the South Asian region. The Vaccine Alliance, also referred to as Gavi, will finance the program that will save lives as well as inhibit the proliferation of drug-resistant typhoid strains.

Rising Threat of Drug-Resistant Typhoid

Typhoid, induced by Salmonella Typhi germs, is communicated through polluted water and food. The prevalent signs are fever, lethargy, nausea, and abdominal discomfort, with the extreme form possibly resulting in life-threatening secondary complications. In the past couple of years, Bangladeshi researchers found ceftriaxone-resistant strains — one of the last remaining effective antibiotics to typhoid.

The worrying pattern resembles that in neighboring Pakistan, where drug-resistant typhoid spread since 2016. The health professionals are concerned thatunless there is fast coverage of vaccinations, the illness will be much harder to contain.

A National Health Milestone

Unrolling the Bangladesh typhoid vaccination campaign, State of the Union Adviser Nurjahan Begum made a passionate case for prevention. "It is unacceptable that typhoid continues to kill children in this day and age," she argued. "With this vaccine, we must vaccinate each and every child and eliminate typhoid as we did with diarrhea and night blindness."

The TCV used in the course of the campaign is developed by the Serum Institute of India and made accessible through Gavi. The officials assured that the vaccine has proved to be very safe in the neighbouring states such as Pakistan, Nepal, as well as India, where no serious side effect has been seen.

Medical professionals view the Bangladesh typhoid vaccination campaign as a watershed moment in public health to diminish both typhoid infections as well as resistance to antibiotics, leading the way towards a healthier, typhoid-free generation.