According to the World Health Organisation cholera vaccines are effective at preventing cholera. They provide about 85% protection for the first six months after vaccination. The protection decreases from between 62% to 50% during the first year and to less than 50% after two years. However, whilst the duration of protection is two years in adults it is about six months in children aged two to five years. Moreover, those who have not been immunised will be protected only when enough of the population is immunised. This is one of the reasons why the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the use of cholera vaccines in combination with other preventative measures among the population at high risk.
Oral cholera vaccines are being used in Zimbabwe as a tool to control the cholera outbreak together with the traditional interventions of improving safe water supplies, sanitation, handwashing and other means of improving hygiene.
It must be emphasized that cholera vaccinations:
- Should be used to complement the traditional cholera control and preventive measures
- Should not stop people from practicing good hygiene standards.
- Should not slow down the urgent need to restore the provision of high priority WASH services and interventions that will effectively prevent the recurrence of cholera outbreaks in Harare and elsewhere in the country.
