A Model Immunization Programme to Control Japanese Encephalitis in Viet Nam.

In Viet Nam, an inactivated, mouse brain-derived vaccine for Japanese encephalitis (JE) has been given exclusively to ≤5 years old children in 3 paediatric doses since 1997. However, JE incidence remained high, especially among children aged 5-9 years. We conducted a model JE immunization programme to assess the feasibility and impact of JE vaccine administered to 1-9 year(s) children in 3 standard-dose regimen: paediatric doses for children aged <3 years and adult doses for those aged ≥3 years. Of the targeted children, 96.2% were immunized with ≥2 doses of the vaccine. Compared to the national immunization programme, JE incidence rate declined sharply in districts with the model programme (11.32 to 0.87 per 100,000 in pre- versus post-vaccination period). The rate of reduction was most significant in the 5-9 years age-group. We recommend a policy change to include 5-9 years old children in the catch-up immunization campaign and administer a 4th dose to those aged 5-9 years, who had received 3 doses of the vaccine during the first 2-3 years of life.

Cost of Illness Due to Typhoid Fever in Pemba, Zanzibar, East Africa.

The aim of this study was to estimate the economic burden of typhoid fever in Pemba, Zanzibar, East Africa. This study was an incidence-based cost-of-illness analysis from a societal perspective. It covered new episodes of blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever in patients presenting at the outpatient or inpatient departments of three district hospitals between May 2010 and December 2010. Cost of illness was the sum of direct costs and costs for productivity loss. Direct costs covered treatment, travel, and meals. Productivity costs were loss of income by patients and caregivers. The analysis included 17 episodes. The mean age of the patients, was 23 years (range=5-65, median=22). Thirty-five percent were inpatients, with a mean of 4.75 days of hospital stay (range=3-7, median=4.50). The mean cost for treatment alone during hospital care was US$ 21.97 at 2010 prices (US$ 1=1,430.50 Tanzanian Shilling─TSH). The average societal cost was US$ 154.47 per typhoid episode. The major expenditure was productivity cost due to lost wages of US$ 128.02 (83%). Our results contribute to the further economic evaluation of typhoid fever vaccination in Zanzibar and other sub-Saharan African countries.

Community Participation in Two Vaccination Trials in Slums of Kolkata, India: A Multi-level Analysis.

This study aims at understanding the individual and community-level characteristics that influenced participation in two consecutive vaccine trials (typhoid and cholera) in urban slums of Kolkata, India. The study area was divided into 80 geographic clusters (communities), with 59,533 subjects aged ≥2 years for analysis. A multi-level model was employed in which the individuals were seen nested within the cluster. Rates of participation in both the trials were nearly the same; those who participated in the initial trial were likely to participate in the subsequent cholera vaccine trial. Communities with predominantly Hindu population, lower percentage of households with an educated household head, or lower percentage of households owning a motorbike had higher participation than their counterparts. At individual scale, higher participation was observed among younger subjects, females, and individuals from households with a household head who had no or minimal education. Geographic patterns were also observed in participation in the trials. The results illustrated that participation in the trial was mostly influenced by various individual and community-level factors, which need to be addressed for a successful vaccination campaign.

The feasibility of a school-based VI polysaccharide vaccine mass immunization campaign in Hue City, central Vietnam: streamlining a typhoid fever preventive strategy.

We report the coverage, safety, and logistics of a school-based typhoid fever immunization campaign that took place in Hue City, central Vietnam; a typhoid fever endemic area. A cluster-randomized evaluation-blinded controlled trial was designed where 68 schools (cluster) were randomly allocated the single dose Vi polysaccharide vaccine (Typherix) or the active control hepatitis A vaccine (Havrix). A safety surveillance system was implemented. A total of 32,267 children were immunized with a coverage of 57.5%. Strong predictors for vaccination were attending primary schools, peri-urban location of the school, and low family income. Human resources were mainly schoolteachers and the campaign was completed in about 1 month. Most adverse events reported were mild. Safe injection and safe sharp-waste disposal practices were followed. A typhoid fever school-based immunization campaign was safe and logistically possible. Coverage was moderate and can be interpreted as the minimum that could have been achievable because individual written informed consent procedures were sought for the first time in Hue City and the trial nature of the campaign. The lessons learned, together with cost-effectiveness results to be obtained by the end of follow-up period, will hopefully accelerate the introduction of Vi typhoid fever vaccine in Vietnam.

The role of epidemiology in the introduction of vi polysaccharide typhoid fever vaccines in Asia.

Despite the availability of at least two licensed typhoid fever vaccines--injectable sub-unit Vi polysaccharide vaccine and live, oral Ty21a vaccine--for the last decade, these vaccines have not been widely introduced in public-health programmes in countries endemic for typhoid fever. The goal of the multidisciplinary DOMI (Diseases of the Most Impoverished) typhoid fever programme is to generate policy-relevant data to support public decision-making regarding the introduction of Vi polysaccharide typhoid fever immunization programmes in China, Viet Nam, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Through epidemiological studies, the DOMI Programme is generating these data and is offering a model for the accelerated, rational introduction of new vaccines into health programmes in low-income countries. Practical and specific examples of the role of epidemiology are described in this paper. These examples cover: (a) selection of available typhoid fever vaccines to be introduced in the programme, (b) generation of policy-relevant data, (c) providing the 'backbone' for the implementation of other multidisciplinary projects, and (d) generation of unexpected but useful information relevant for the introduction of vaccines. Epidemiological studies contribute to all stages of development of vaccine evaluation and introduction.

Translational research to assist policy decisions about introducing new vaccines in developing countries.

Few new-generation vaccines have found their way into public-health programmes for the poor in developing countries, and for those that have, delays of years or even decades after their licensure and introduction in industrialized countries have been the rule. Financial constraints and political obstacles have played major roles in delaying the introduction of the vaccines. Also contributing to this situation has been a dearth of needed research. While past analyses have identified inadequate support for conducting Phase 1 studies as an obstacle, other types of translational research are also needed. Vaccines may perform less well in impoverished populations in the developing world than in more affluent populations. Consequently, Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials of new vaccines in developing countries are a second essential type of translational research needed for the introduction of vaccines in developing countries. Moreover, even for vaccines that have performed well in pre-licensure human trials in developing countries, doubts often remain about whether the local disease burden justifies introduction of vaccine, whether the vaccine will be cost-effective, and whether introduction of vaccine will be programmatically feasible, acceptable, and financially sustainable. Because these residual doubts constitute obstacles to the introduction of vaccine, a third type of translational research is needed to provide this evidence required for policy. In this paper, these three types of translational research are illustrated with projects being undertaken in the Diseases of the Most Impoverished Programme. The Programme is conducting translational research to accelerate the rational introduction of new vaccines against cholera, shigellosis, and typhoid fever in developing countries affected by these diseases.

Multidisciplinary studies of disease burden in the Diseases of the Most Impoverished Programme.

With limited healthcare resources, rational prioritization of healthcare interventions requires knowledge and analysis of disease burden. In the absence of actual disease-burden data from less-developed countries, various types of morbidity and mortality estimates have been made. Besides having questionable reliability, these estimates do not capture the full burden of a disease since they provide only the number of cases and deaths. The modelling methods that include disability are more comprehensive but are difficult to understand, and their reliability is affected by baseline approximations. To provide policy-makers with information needed for rational decision-making, the Diseases of the Most Impoverished (DOMI) Programme of the International Vaccine Institute has used a multidisciplinary approach to describe the burden of disease due to typhoid fever, shigellosis, and cholera. Recognizing the relative advantages and disadvantages of various methodologies, the programme employs passive clinic-based surveillance in defined communities to provide prospective data. The prospective data are complemented with retrospectively-collected information from existing sources, frequently less accurate and complete but readily available for the whole population over extended periods. To create a more complete picture, economic and qualitative studies specific to each disease are incorporated in these prospective studies. The goal is to achieve a more complete and realistic picture by combining the results of these various methodologies, acknowledging the strengths and limitations of each. These projects also build in-country capacity in terms of treatment, diagnosis, epidemiology, and data management.

Costs of illness due to typhoid fever in an Indian urban slum community: implications for vaccination policy.

Data on the burden of disease, costs of illness, and cost-effectiveness of vaccines are needed to facilitate the use of available anti-typhoid vaccines in developing countries. This one-year prospective surveillance was carried out in an urban slum community in Delhi, India, to estimate the costs of illness for cases of typhoid fever. Ninety-eight culture-positive typhoid, 31 culture-positive paratyphoid, and 94 culture-negative cases with clinical typhoid syndrome were identified during the surveillance. Estimates of costs of illness were based on data collected through weekly interviews conducted at home for three months following diagnosis. Private costs included the sum of direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect costs. Non-patient (public) costs included costs of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, laboratory tests, and medicines provided free of charge to the families. The mean cost per episode of blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever was 3,597 Indian Rupees (US$ 1=INR 35.5) (SD 5,833); hospitalization increased the costs by several folds (INR 18,131, SD 11,218, p<0.0001). The private and non-patient costs of illness were similar (INR 1,732, SD 1,589, and INR 1,865, SD 5,154 respectively, p=0.8095). The total private and non-patient ex-ante costs, i.e. expected annual losses for each individual, were higher for children aged 2-5 years (INR 154) than for those aged 5-19 years (INR 32), 0-2 year(s) (INR 25), and 19-40 years (INR 2). The study highlights the need for affordable typhoid vaccines efficacious at 2-5 years of age. Currently-available Vi vaccine is affordable but is unlikely to be efficacious in the first two years of life. Ways must be found to make Vi-conjugate vaccine, which is efficacious at this age, available to children of developing-countries.

A cost-benefit analysis of typhoid fever immunization programmes in an Indian urban slum community.

Many economic analyses of immunization programmes focus on the benefits in terms of public-sector cost savings, but do not incorporate estimates of the private cost savings that individuals receive from vaccination. This paper considers the implications of Bahl et al.'s cost-of-illness estimates for typhoid immunization policy by examining how community-level incidence estimates and information on distribution of costs of illness among patients and the public-health sector can be used in the economic analysis of vaccination-programme options. The findings illustrate why typhoid vaccination programmes may often appear to be unattractive to public-health officials who adopt a public budgetary perspective. Under many plausible sets of assumptions, public-sector expenditure on typhoid vaccination does not yield comparable public-sector cost savings. If public-health officials adopt a societal perspective on the economic benefits of vaccination, there are many situations in which different vaccination programmes will make economic sense. The findings show that this is especially true when public decision-makers recognize that (a) the incidence of typhoid fever is underestimated by blood culture-positive cases and (b) avoided costs of illness represent a significant underestimate of the actual economic benefits to individuals of vaccination.

Preferences for treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery in Kaengkhoi district, Saraburi province, Thailand.

To estimate the proportion of cases missed in a passive surveillance study of diarrhoea and dysentery at health centres and hospitals in Kaengkhoi district, Saraburi province, Thailand, a community-based cluster survey of treatment-seeking behaviours was conducted during 21-23 June 2002. Interviews were conducted at 224 households among a study population of 78,744. The respondents reported where they sought care for diarrhoea and dysentery in children aged less than five years and adults aged over 15 years. Health centres or hospitals were the first treatment choice for 78% of children with dysentery (95% confidence interval [CI] 63-94%), 64% of children with diarrhoea (95% CI 54-74%), 61% of adults with dysentery (95% CI 40-82%), and 35% of adults with diarrhoea (95% CI 17-54%). A high degree of heterogeneity in responses resulted in a relatively large design effect (D=3.9) and poor intra-cluster correlation (rho=0.3). The community survey suggests that passive surveillance estimates of disease incidence will need to be interpreted with caution, since this method will miss nearly a quarter of dysentery cases in children and nearly two-thirds of diarrhoea cases in adults.

A community-based cluster survey on preferences for treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery in Zhengding county, Hebei province, China.

Passive surveillance on the burden of disease due to diarrhoea will underestimate the burden if families use healthcare providers outside the surveillance system. To study this issue, a community-based cluster survey was conducted during October 2001 in the catchment area for a passive surveillance study in Zhengding county, a rural area of northern China. Interviews were conducted at 7 randomly-selected households in each of 39 study villages. The respondents indicated where they sought initial care for cases of diarrhoea or dysentery among children or adults. In the absence of diarrhoea and dysentery cases in the household in the preceding four weeks, the respondents were asked about healthcare use for a hypothetical case. Overall, 80% (95% confidence interval [CI] 67-93%) would chose the village clinic, 11% village pharmacy (95% CI 1-22%), 4% township hospital (95% CI -1-10%), 4% self-treatment (95% CI 1-8%), and 1% county hospital (95% CI 0-2%). Approximately, 84% of patients would seek treatment for diarrhoea and dysentery at centres participating in passive surveillance, suggesting that passive surveillance will provide a relatively accurate assessment of burden of diarrhoea in Zhengding county.

Diarrhoea episodes and treatment-seeking behaviour in a slum area of North Jakarta, Indonesia.

Visits to household during a census in an impoverished area of north Jakarta were used for exploring the four-week prevalence of diarrhoea, factors associated with episodes of diarrhoea, and the patterns of healthcare use. For 160,261 urban slum-dwellers, information was collected on the socioeconomic status of the household and on diarrhoea episodes of individual household residents in the preceding four weeks. In households with a reported case of diarrhoea, the household head was asked which form of healthcare was used first. In total, 8,074 individuals (5%)--13% of children aged less than five years and 4% of adults--had a diarrhoea episode in the preceding four weeks. The two strongest factors associated with a history of diarrhoea were a diarrhoea episode in another household member in the four weeks preceding the interview (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 11.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 10.4-11.8) and age less than five years (adjusted OR 3.4; 95% CI 3.2-3.5). Of the 8,074 diarrhoea cases, 1,969 (25%) treated themselves, 1,822 (23%) visited a public-health centre (PHC), 1,462 (18%) visited a private practitioner or a private clinic, 1,318 (16%) presented at a hospital, 753 (9%) bought drugs from a drug vendor, and 750 (9%) used other healthcare providers, such as belian (traditional healers). Children with diarrhoea were most often brought to a PHC, a private clinic, or a hospital for treatment. Compared to children, adults with diarrhoea were more likely to treat themselves. Individuals from households in the lowest-income group were significantly more likely to attend a PHC for treatment of diarrhoea compared to individuals from households in the middle- and higher-income groups.

Healthcare use for diarrhoea and dysentery in actual and hypothetical cases, Nha Trang, Viet Nam.

To better understand healthcare use for diarrhoea and dysentery in Nha Trang, Viet Nam, qualitative interviews with community residents and dysentery case studies were conducted. Findings were supplemented by a quantitative survey which asked respondents which healthcare provider their household members would use for diarrhoea or dysentery. A clear pattern of healthcare-seeking behaviours among 433 respondents emerged. More than half of the respondents self-treated initially. Medication for initial treatment was purchased from a pharmacy or with medication stored at home. Traditional home treatments were also widely used. If no improvement occurred or the symptoms were perceived to be severe, individuals would visit a healthcare facility. Private medical practitioners are playing a steadily increasing role in the Vietnamese healthcare system. Less than a quarter of diarrhoea patients initially used government healthcare providers at commune health centres, polyclinics, and hospitals, which are the only sources of data for routine public-health statistics. Given these healthcare-use patterns, reported rates could significantly underestimate the real disease burden of dysentery and diarrhoea.

Factors associated with reported diarrhoea episodes and treatment-seeking in an urban slum of Kolkata, India.

In an urban slum in eastern Kolkata, India, reported diarrhoea rates, healthcare-use patterns, and factors associated with reported diarrhoea episodes were studied as a part of a diarrhoea-surveillance project. Data were collected through a structured interview during a census and healthcare-use survey of an urban slum population in Kolkata. Several variables were analyzed, including (a) individual demographics, such as age and educational level, (b) household characteristics, such as number of household members, religious affiliation of the household head, building material, expenditure, water supply and sanitation, and (c) behaviour, such as hand-washing after defecation and healthcare use. Of 57,099 study subjects, 428 (0.7%) reported a diarrhoea episode sometime during the four weeks preceding the interview. The strongest independent factors for reporting a history of diarrhoea were having another household member with diarrhoea (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.3-4.4) and age less than 60 months (adjusted OR=3.7; 95% CI 3.0-4.7). The first choice of treatment by the 428 subjects was as follows: 151 (35%) had self- or parent-treatment, 150 (35%) consulted a private allopathic practitioner, 70 (16%) went directly to a pharmacy, 29 (7%) visited a hospital, 14 (3%) a homoeopathic practitioner, 2 (0.5%) an ayurvedic practitioner, and 12 (3%) other traditional healers. The choices varied significantly with the age of patients and their religion. The findings increase the understanding of the factors and healthcare-use patterns associated with diarrhoea episodes and may assist in developing public-health messages and infrastructure in Kolkata.

Coverage and costs of mass immunization of an oral cholera vaccine in Vietnam.

The objective of this study was to describe a mass-immunization campaign of a locally-produced oral, killed whole-cell cholera vaccine in Hue city, Vietnam. Mass immunization with a 2-dose regimen of the vaccine was conducted in 13 communes in early 1998. The total, age- and sex-specific vaccine coverage was calculated using data from the vaccination records and the government census. The number of vaccine doses procured, administered, wasted, and left over, and the human and other resources required to prepare and conduct the vaccination campaign were systematically recorded. Government expenditure for planning, procurement, and delivery of the vaccine were documented. In total, 118,555 (79%) of the 49,557 targeted population were fully vaccinated during the mass-vaccination campaign. The total expenditure for the project was US dollar 105,447, resulting in a cost per fully-vaccinated person of US dollar 0.89. Mass immunization with this locally-produced oral, killed cholera vaccine was found to be feasible and affordable with attainment of high vaccination coverage.