Opportunities for Typhoid Vaccination in India

Typhoid fever, an infection with potentially life threatening complications, is responsible for 11 to 21 million illness episodes and 145,000 to 161,000 deaths each year globally. India is a high burden country and also faces the challenge of antimicrobial resistance, which further narrows treatment options. This review analyzes the need for typhoid vaccination in India, and appraises the evidence on efficacy, immunogenicity and cost-effectiveness of currently available typhoid vaccines. In 2018, WHO prequalified the first typhoid conjugate vaccine Vi-TT and recommended it for children aged 6-23 months, along with measles vaccine at 9 or 15 months of age through the expanded programme on immunization. With the high endemicity of typhoid in India and the proven cost-effectiveness of the conjugate vaccine, a roll-out of typhoid vaccine should be considered at the earliest.