Must do better-oral vaccines in the developing world

Oral rotavirus, polio and cholera vaccines are less immunogenic and less effective in children living in resource-poor regions of Africa and Asia. The lower efficacy of multiple oral vaccines in similar settings suggests there may be common mechanisms that limit immunity induced by oral vaccines in such environments. 
 
In studies on oral rotavirus and polio vaccines in India, we have investigated the role of maternal antibodies, the presence of bacterial and viral pathogens, the intestinal microbiota, intestinal inflammation and the systemic and mucosal immune response in children from lower socio-economic status families. The ability to apply new investigative approaches to carefully conducted clinical studies can provide new insights into the heterogeneous performance of oral vaccines.

About the speaker:

Gagandeep Kang is a medical scientist who has worked on diarrhoea diseases and public health in India since the early 1990s. She is a key contributor to rotavirus epidemiology and vaccinology in India. Winner of the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences for the year 2016, Prof Kang is the executive director of THSTI since 2016.