High-dose vaccine developed to cure cholera

Scientists have developed a high-dose cholera vaccine for controlling outbreaks.

The vaccine, named Vaxchora, is a single-dose, live- attenuated oral vaccine. It was approved in 2016 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in adults (18-64 years).

The study, published in the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, included 150 participants.

The researchers assessed the effectiveness (ability to stimulate vibriocidal antibody, an immune response that correlates with protection) of a single high-dose of live cholera vaccine CVD 103-HgR.

"Immunisation with a single-dose cholera vaccine that could rapidly protect people in low-income countries who have not previously been exposed to cholera would be a significant asset in helping control outbreaks and lower mortality rates," said Myron M Levine, from the University of Maryland in the US.

Cholera transmission is endemic in many areas of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

In severe cases, patients pass large amounts of diarrhoea that causes rapid dehydration and ultimately death if left untreated.

This year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that in Yemen alone there have been a million cases of cholera.