Burden of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever in India.

BACKGROUND: In 2017, more than half the cases of typhoid fever worldwide were projected to have occurred in India. In the absence of contemporary population-based data, it is unclear whether declining trends of hospitalization for typhoid in India reflect increased antibiotic treatment or a true reduction in infection. METHODS: From 2017 through 2020, we conducted weekly surveillance for acute febrile illness and measured the incidence of typhoid fever (as confirmed on blood culture) in a prospective cohort of children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years at three urban sites and one rural site in India. At an additional urban site and five rural sites, we combined blood-culture testing of hospitalized patients who had a fever with survey data regarding health care use to estimate incidence in the community. RESULTS: A total of 24,062 children who were enrolled in four cohorts contributed 46,959 child-years of observation. Among these children, 299 culture-confirmed typhoid cases were recorded, with an incidence per 100,000 child-years of 576 to 1173 cases in urban sites and 35 in rural Pune. The estimated incidence of typhoid fever from hospital surveillance ranged from 12 to 1622 cases per 100,000 child-years among children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years and from 108 to 970 cases per 100,000 person-years among those who were 15 years of age or older. Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi was isolated from 33 children, for an overall incidence of 68 cases per 100,000 child-years after adjustment for age. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of typhoid fever in urban India remains high, with generally lower estimates of incidence in most rural areas. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; NSSEFI Clinical Trials Registry of India number, CTRI/2017/09/009719; ISRCTN registry number, ISRCTN72938224.).

Communication lessons learned from the 2017 measles-rubella campaign in India: perspectives from vaccine decision-makers.

In 2017, to reduce the burden of measles and rubella, a nation-wide measles-rubella campaign was launched in India. Despite detailed planning efforts that involved many stakeholders, vaccine refusal arose in several communities during the campaign. As strategic health communication and promotion is critical in any vaccine campaign, we sought to document lessons learned from the 2017 MR campaign from a strategic health communication and promotion perspective to capture lessons learned. To inform future campaigns, we conducted in-depth interviews through a perspective that is not usually captured, that of government and civil society stakeholders that had experience in vaccine campaign implementation (n = 21). We interviewed stakeholders at the national level and within three states that had diverse experiences with the campaign. Three key themes related to strategic health communication and promotion emerged: the importance of sensitizing communities at all levels through relevant and timely information about the vaccine and the vaccine campaign, leveraging key influencers to deliver tailored messaging about the importance of vaccines and mitigating vaccine misinformation rapidly. Our study findings have important implications for health communication and promotion research related to vaccine campaigns. The field must continue to enhance vaccine campaign efforts by identifying important health communication and promotion factors, including the importance of sensitization, trusted messengers that use tailored messaging and mitigating misinformation, as vaccine campaigns are crucial in improving vaccine acceptance.

Measles and rubella are diseases that cause sickness and death. Both are preventable as there are safe and effective vaccines available. Measles and rubella are significant in India. These vaccines are generally delivered to the public through vaccine campaigns. A measles­rubella vaccine campaign was implemented in 2017. In this study, we interviewed 21 government and civil society stakeholders that are involved in vaccine campaigns in India to capture lessons learned. We were interested in understanding how vaccine campaigns could be improved through health communication and promotion efforts. Stakeholders suggested to use trusted community members to inform people about the vaccine campaign, and that it was important for trusted community leaders to dispel rumors about vaccines quickly. To increase vaccine acceptance, it is critical that health communication and promotion efforts target concerns that people may have about the vaccine as well as the vaccine campaign.

Understanding determinants of vaccine hesitancy and acceptance in India: A qualitative study of government officials and civil society stakeholders.

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have described the drivers of vaccine hesitancy and acceptance in India from the perspective of those involved in the design and implementation of vaccine campaigns-such as government officials and civil society stakeholders-a prerequisite to developing approaches to address this barrier to high immunization coverage and further child health improvements. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study to understand government officials and civil society stakeholders' perceptions of the drivers of vaccine hesitancy in India. We conducted in-depth phone interviews using a structured guide of open-ended questions with 21 participants from international and national non-governmental organizations, professional associations, and universities, and state and national government-six national-level stakeholders in New Delhi, six state-level stakeholders in Uttar Pradesh, six in Kerala, and three in Gujarat-from July 2020 to October 2020. We analyzed data through a multi-stage process following Grounded Theory. We present findings on individual-level, contextual, and vaccine/vaccination program-specific factors influencing vaccine hesitancy. RESULTS: We identified multiple drivers and complex ways they influence vaccine beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors from the perspective of government officials and civil society stakeholders involved in vaccine campaigns. Important individual-level influences were low awareness of the benefits of vaccination, safety concerns, especially related to mild adverse events following immunization, and mistrust in government and health service quality. Contextual-level factors included communications, the media environment, and social media, which serves as a major conduit of misinformation and driver of hesitancy, as well as sociodemographic factors-specific drivers varied widely by income, education, urban/rural setting, and across religious and cultural groups. Among vaccine/vaccination-level issues, vaccine program design and delivery and the role of health care professionals emerged as the strongest determinants of hesitancy. CONCLUSIONS: Drivers of vaccine hesitancy in India, as elsewhere, vary widely by local context; successful interventions should address individual, contextual, and vaccine-specific factors. While previous studies focused on individual-level factors, our study demonstrates the equal importance of contextual and vaccine-specific influences, especially the communication and media environment, influential leaders, sociodemographic factors, and frontline health workers.

Epidemiology of Acute Gastroenteritis Caused by Rotavirus among Children Less than Five Years Old Admitted in Hospital, in North India.

OBJECTIVES: To report the data of burden of rotaviral acute gastroenteritis in under-five children from two states post-introduction of the vaccine. METHODS: Children under 5 y of age hospitalized with diarrhea from the states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in north India were recruited in the study. Commercially available ELISA kits were used for testing rotavirus in the collected stool samples. Genotyping of the positive samples was done by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Out of 345 samples collected, 69 (20%) were found to be positive for rotavirus by ELISA. Genotyping was done and G3P[8] (31.3%), G1P[8] (13.4%), G2P[4] (13.4%) were found to be prevalent strains. Mixed strains were also found in 19.4% stool samples. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlighted the high burden of rotavirus associated diarrhea in north Indian states. The data is helpful for evaluating the impact of vaccine on the severity of acute gastroenteritis and the changing strains after the introduction of rotavirus vaccine in the Universal Immunization Program.

Epidemiology of Hospitalized Intussusception Cases from Northern States in India.

OBJECTIVE: To describe epidemiology of intussusception post-introduction of the rotavirus vaccine. METHODS: Hospital-based active surveillance system was set up in three tertiary care hospitals in Chandigarh and Haryana, India, to enroll children <2 y of age admitted with intussusception as per Brighton Collaboration Level-I criteria. The clinical characteristics, treatment modalities, seasonal trends, and outcome of the illness episodes were described. RESULTS: A total of 224 cases were reported. Majority were males (71%) and infants (69.5%). Number of intussusception was more in summer season. Location of intussusception was ileo-colic in 85% of the cases. Nearly 54% cases were treated conservatively and 46% needed surgical intervention. CONCLUSION: Surveillance data provided the epidemiological description of intussusception cases post-introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in northern India. This data could be used to assess the impact of vaccine and safety with a special focus on intussusception.