An updated WHO position paper emphasizes the importance of using typhoid vaccines to control endemic and epidemic typhoid, and recommends that typhoid-endemic countries introduce TCV in a single dose for infants and children over the age of six months.

Where feasible, vaccine introduction should be accompanied by catch-up vaccination campaigns for children up to 15 years of age in endemic countries. Additionally, the position paper recommended prioritizing TCV introduction in countries with the highest burden of disease or a growing burden of drug-resistant typhoid. TCV was also recommended as a response to confirmed typhoid outbreaks and for specific groups of people at high risk or with high transmission potential, including travelers from non-endemic to endemic areas.

Compared to earlier typhoid vaccines, TCV provides longer-lasting protection, requires fewer doses and is suitable for children under two years of age. These advantages allow delivery through routine infant immunization programs and better protection of young children. “Vaccines are one of the best investments we can make to give every child a healthy start and this WHO recommendation is an important step toward our goal of addressing the high burden of typhoid in children.

For too long, typhoid, which invariably affects the world's poorest communities, has been neglected in efforts to improve global health," said Dr. Anita Zaidi, director of the Vaccine Development and Surveillance, and Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases teams at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "With this new vaccine, countries will finally be able to protect millions of children who are most vulnerable to this deadly disease."

Expanding coverage of TCV through routine immunization would reduce disease incidence and potentially decrease the need for antibiotics – two priorities of the effort to stem the development and spread of drug-resistant typhoid. WHO highlighted TCV as a critical tool to slow further emergence of drug-resistant typhoid strains and ultimately save lives.

“Typhoid fever is a familiar public health problem in many developing countries where rapid urbanization and an alarming increase of multidrug-resistant typhoid are creating an urgent need to focus on prevention,” said Dr. Kathy Neuzil, director of the Center for Vaccines Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “These WHO recommendations are a vital step to delivering TCVs to those who need them most and relieving the pressure on public health systems tasked with treating drug-resistant strains.”