Typhoid prevention conference begins

A two-day international conference on "Typhoid Fever Control and Prevention" began in the capital yesterday seeking ways to fight the widespread disease.
The Coalition against Typhoid (CaT) Secretariat, in association with ICDDR,B; Bangladesh Pediatric Association (BPA) and International Vaccine Institute (IVI) organised the eighth international conference at Sonargaon Hotel.
Dr Thomas Brewer gave a power-point presentation on enteric fever and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella control and prevention, with a focus on the role of immunisation and Dr Gordon Dougan delivered a presentation on epidemiology and genomics of typhoid fever at the inaugural session of the conference.
Typhoid fever and enteric fever are widespread in the communities without access to safe water and basic sanitation. These spread through contaminated water and food.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), typhoid impacts an estimated 21 million people and causes more than 200,000 deaths annually, predominantly among preschool and school-age children.