Evidence of the risks and benefits of vaccinating pregnant women with WHO pre-qualified cholera vaccines during mass campaigns

Background Two oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) are currently pre-qualified by WHO: Dukoral® and Shanchol. Both are oral killed whole-cell (WC) vaccines that provide sustained protection of >50% for at least two years in endemic populations, induce an immune response relatively quickly (7-10 days after the 2 dose) and have a good safety profile. Shanchol has demonstrated longer term protection – 65% over five years – as compared to Dukoral®. On the other hand, Dukoral® has been shown to provide better short-term protection against cholera, particularly among children 2-5 years old and also confers significant short-term protection against ETEC (≈50% for three months). Both vaccines have a two-dose regimen between one and six weeks apart (three doses for Dukoral® in children aged 2–5 years).