The Burden of Typhoid and Paratyphoid in India: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

<h4>Background</h4>Typhoid is an important public health challenge for India, especially with the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The decision about whether to introduce a public vaccination programme needs to be based on an understanding of disease burden and the age-groups and geog...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jacob John, Carola J C Van Aart, Nicholas C Grassly
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-04-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004616&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:<h4>Background</h4>Typhoid is an important public health challenge for India, especially with the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The decision about whether to introduce a public vaccination programme needs to be based on an understanding of disease burden and the age-groups and geographic areas at risk.<h4>Methods</h4>We searched Medline and Web of Science databases for studies reporting the incidence or prevalence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever confirmed by culture and/or serology, conducted in India and published between 1950 and 2015. We used binomial and Poisson mixed-effects meta-regression models to estimate prevalence and incidence from hospital and community studies, and to identify risk-factors.<h4>Results</h4>We identified 791 titles and abstracts, and included 37 studies of typhoid and 18 studies of paratyphoid in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The estimated prevalence of laboratory-confirmed typhoid and paratyphoid among individuals with fever across all hospital studies was 9.7% (95% CI: 5.7-16.0%) and 0.9% (0.5-1.7%) respectively. There was significant heterogeneity among studies (p-values<0.001). Typhoid was more likely to be detected among clinically suspected cases or during outbreaks and showed a significant decline in prevalence over time (odds ratio for each yearly increase in study date was 0.96 (0.92-0.99) in the multivariate meta-regression model). Paratyphoid did not show any trend over time and there was no clear association with risk-factors. Incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid was reported in 3 and 2 community cohort studies respectively (in Kolkata and Delhi, or Kolkata alone). Pooled estimates of incidence were 377 (178-801) and 105 (74-148) per 100,000 person years respectively, with significant heterogeneity between locations for typhoid (p<0.001). Children 2-4 years old had the highest incidence.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Typhoid remains a significant burden in India, particularly among young children, despite apparent declines in prevalence. Infant immunisation with newly-licensed conjugate vaccines could address this challenge.
ISSN:1935-2727
1935-2735