New Vaccines for Diarrhoeal Diseases in Children

In developing countries such as Pakistan, diarrhoea continues to be a major killer of children during the first five years of life. A seminar organised at Aga Khan University (AKU) in collaboration with University of Maryland (USA) highlighted the role of systematic medical research and the development of new vaccines to tackle the huge burden of diarrhoea-related deaths. Dr Myron M. Levine, Director of the internationally renowned Centre for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland, and Dr Anita Zaidi, Associate Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at AKU were the invited speakers at this seminar.

Dr Levine discussed his experience estimating the burden of moderate to severe diarrhoea in seven different population-based studies across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with the ultimate goal of promoting, developing and implementing vaccines against diarrheal diseases.

Dr Anita Zaidi highlighted the burden of diarrhoea in Pakistan caused by a virus called rotavirus, which is a highly contagious cause of vomiting and diarrhoea in young children, with almost every child experiencing at least one episode of rotavirus infection before the age of five years.

About 85 per cent of all rotavirus deaths occur in Asia and Africa, amounting to more than half a million deaths per year in children in developing countries. This poses great strain on primary care clinics and paediatric hospital wards, as studies have shown that almost 30 per cent of diarrhoea hospitalisation in Pakistan is due to rotavirus. A properly implemented vaccine programme would be a crucial prevention strategy to reduce diarrheal deaths in children, and promote the cause of child health in Pakistan.

As part of its social responsibility and commitment to the advancement of health research and education, AKU regularly holds seminars, symposiums and events to raise awareness about health and education related issues which are of national importance and interest.

For further information, please contact:

Rasool Sarang, Sr. Media Executive,
at 486 3920 or rasool.sarang@aku.edu;

Hassaan Akhter, Media Executive,
at 486 2927 or hassaan.akhter@aku.edu.

Department of Public Affairs
Aga Khan University
Stadium Road, P.O. Box 3500, Karachi-74000.
Fax: 493 4294, 493 2095