Since 2016, Innovax have been cooperating with International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh(icddr,b) scientists to conduct research on a vaccine for Hepatitis E, a troubling viral disease that causes particularly dangerous problems in pregnant women.
Hepatitis E remains a significant public health problem in countries like Bangladesh where drinking water and food are frequently contaminated with human feces. Pregnant woman and their fetuses and newborns bear the greatest burden from Hepatitis E, fatality rate rises to 5-25% among pregnant women.
Membrane rupture, spontaneous abortions, stillbirth and high neonatal mortality are associated with Hepatitis E infection in pregnancy. The study is conducted in rural Bangladesh at icddr,b’s Matlab fieldsite. The effectiveness trial evaluates the protection of pregnant women by a Hepatitis E vaccine in Bangladesh and the risk factors for severe Hepatitis E infection.
The data on Hepatitis E vaccination feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness from this study will provide critical information to inform policy on Hepatitis E vaccine introduction for women of childbearing age in Bangladesh, and elsewhere in South Asia.
icddr,b is one of the world’s leading global health research institutes. Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, it is committed to solving public health problems facing low- and middle-income countries through innovative scientific research -including laboratory-based, clinical, epidemiological and health systems research. By developing, testing and assessing the implementation of interventions specifically designed for resource-poor settings, it is aim to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in the world’s poorest nations. For more than 50 years, icddr,b has been carrying out high-quality research and promoting the uptake of evidence-based interventions. Its initial focus was on diarrhoeal disease, but it now study multiple infectious diseases, other threats to public health, and methods of healthcare delivery. Its work has had a profound impact on health policy and practice both locally and globally – and this remains our key objective for the future. For more details, please click here.