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New vaccine for typhoid launched

JAIPUR: A new vaccine promising full protection against typhoid fever was launched at an Indo-American summit on paediatrics here on Saturday. The vaccine purportedly has the unique potential to trigger the immune mechanism of infants to build up a shield against the disease for the whole life.

The promoters of the vaccine – named Peda Typh – claimed that it could be given to babies as young as three months of age. The oral or vi-polysaccharide typhoid vaccines could earlier be given only to children above two years and they provided protection ranging between 55 and 60 per cent for two to three years.

Shuzan Szu, senior scientist with the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, U.S., who was instrumental in the two-decade-long research on the vaccine, announced at the summit that it had “conjugate properties” with the ability to eliminate the age-old disease from the face of the earth.

Peda Typh has been developed and manufactured as a commercial vaccine by an Indian pharmaceutical firm, Bio-Med, after its clinical trial on 175 persons in the medical colleges at Meerut, Secundrabad and Bhavnagar.

Bio-Med Managing Director S.P. Garg told reporters that the vaccine had to be administered twice with the gap of one-and-a-half months for providing a long immunity of more than 90 per cent. “The medical fraternity will receive Peda Typh as a boon as it will save their energy and relieve the discomfort of infants,” he added.

Dr. Garg called upon the Union Government to include the new vaccine in the National Immunisation Programme and provide subsidy to make it available to the poor sections of society at affordable prices.

The three-day summit, organised jointly by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) and the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP), has provided a unique opportunity to the doctors of the two countries to explore areas of mutual interest and exchange innovative ideas for greater cooperation.

Jaipur-based paediatrician and organising secretary of the conference, Dr. Ashok Gupta, said the IAP and AAP would sign a memorandum of understanding on the Neonatal Resuscitation Programme (NRP) which had proved to be very successful in saving the lives of newborns in the US.

The subjects covered during the conference – the first of its kind being held here – include educational guidelines for paediatrics in the U.S., career advancement and leadership development, making resident research meaningful and manageable, publication of research and writing of papers for scientific journals.

Experts will also throw light on topics such as neo-natal complications, palliative care in newborns, infectious diseases, asthma care, obesity and diabetes, blood and component therapy, abdominal pain, chronic kidney disease and the stem cell transplant.

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