'New typhoid vaccine found effective in campaign'.

KARACHI -- The emergency vaccination campaign in Sindh following the outbreak of typhoid in the province has found the typhoid conjugate vaccine to be effective in preventing new cases of the disease, said researchers at an event at Aga Khan University (AKU).

Over 10,000 cases of extensively drug resistant (XDR) typhoid, a strain of the disease resistant to an unprecedented range of antibiotics, have been reported since 2016 in Karachi and Hyderabad.

This outbreak led to the launch of an emergency vaccination campaign in January 2018 in the worst affected areas of Hyderabad which saw 207,000 children between six months and 10 years of age receive the new vaccine.

At the same time, researchers set up a surveillance system in the same area over an 18-month period to screen a group of over 20,000 children, who received the vaccine, to detect cases of typhoid. They found that 89 per cent of children did not contract the disease.

Most drug-resistant typhoid cases in Hyderabad reported around sewerage lines: AKU study

'The results of the vaccine's effectiveness are in line with a study in Nepal,' said Farah Qamar, associate professor in paediatrics and child health at AKU. 'This strengthens the case for the national rollout of the vaccine.'

During the event, Dr Qamar spoke about how lessons from the Hyderabad campaign had been applied in Lyari, and during the Sindh-wide rollout, conducted in November 2018, which aimed to reach over 10 million children during a three-week period.

A mop-up campaign is now being planned in Sindh in March 2020 to immunise children between the age of nine months and 15 years missed during the previous drive. Researchers noted that parents, whose children haven't received the vaccine, are keen to participate in the forthcoming immunisation campaign.

Speakers at the event noted that cases of typhoid were being reported in parts of Punjab such as Lahore and Multan. The province is yet to...