Oral Cholera Vaccine Coverage during an Outbreak and Humanitarian Crisis, Iraq, 2015

• Main Authors: Eugene Lam, Wasan Al-Tamimi, Steven Paul Russell, Muhammad Obaid-ul Islam Butt, Curtis Blanton, Altaf Sadrudin Musani, Kashmira A. Date
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2017-01-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: vaccines; oral cholera vaccine; cholera; refugees; internally displaced persons; internally displaced persons camps
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/23/1/16-0881_article
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059

During November–December 2015, as part of the 2015 cholera outbreak response in Iraq, the Iraqi Ministry of Health targeted ≈255,000 displaced persons >1 year of age with 2 doses of oral cholera vaccine (OCV). All persons who received vaccines were living in selected refugee camps, internally displaced persons camps, and collective centers. We conducted a multistage cluster survey to obtain OCV coverage estimates in 10 governorates that were targeted during the campaign. In total, 1,226 household and 5,007 individual interviews were conducted. Overall, 2-dose OCV coverage in the targeted camps was 87% (95% CI 85%–89%). Two-dose OCV coverage in the 3 northern governorates (91%; 95% CI 87%–94%) was higher than that in the 7 southern and central governorates (80%; 95% CI 77%–82%). The experience in Iraq demonstrates that OCV campaigns can be successfully implemented as part of a comprehensive response to cholera outbreaks among high-risk populations in conflict settings.