Typhoid vaccines: WHO position paper, March 2018 – Recommendations

The updated position paper replaces the 2008 WHO guidance and underscores the critical role of vaccination in controlling typhoid fever globally.
 
The document provides WHO’s recommendations on deploying a new generation of typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs), highlighting their advantages in large-scale immunization programmes, particularly in high-burden settings. It also includes footnotes referencing grading tables that assess the quality of scientific evidence and evidence-to-recommendation tables to guide policy formulation.
 
WHO’s position papers serve as authoritative guidance to Member States on vaccine policy, focusing on vaccines with significant public health impact. The March 2018 update follows deliberations by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) in October 2017, which reviewed evidence on typhoid vaccination strategies, alongside other public health priorities such as cholera vaccination.
 
WHO reaffirms that integrating TCVs into national immunization schedules can substantially reduce typhoid burden and strengthen global health security.