WHO switching to single-dose cholera vaccine amid ‘unprecedented’ rise in outbreaks

As of Oct. 9, Haiti had confirmed 32 cases and 18 deaths from the disease, while many cases were still awaiting confirmation.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it will temporarily suspend the standard two-dose vaccination regimen for cholera, replacing it with a single dose due to vaccine shortages and rising outbreaks worldwide.

The UN agency said “the exceptional decision reflects the grave state of the cholera vaccine stockpile” at a time when countries like Haiti, Syria, Malawi are fighting large outbreaks of the deadly disease, which spreads through contact with contaminated water and food.

As of Oct. 9, Haiti had confirmed 32 cases and 18 deaths from the disease, while many cases were still awaiting confirmation.

“The pivot in strategy will allow for the doses to be used in more countries, at a time of unprecedented rise in cholera outbreaks worldwide,” WHO said in a statement on Wednesday.

The WHO’s emergencies director Mike Ryan told reporters in a briefing that the change in strategy was a sign of the “scale of the crisis” caused by a lack of focus on safe sanitation and immunization for all at risk.

“It’s a sad day for us to have to go backwards,” he said.

The one-dose strategy had proved to be effective as a response to cholera outbreaks, the agency said, although the duration of protection is limited and appears to be much lower in children.

The disease often causes no or mild symptoms, but serious cases cause acute diarrhoea and can kill within hours ifuntreated.