Vaccines to Control Antimicrobial Resistance in Côte d’Ivoire

Vaccines to Control Antimicrobial Resistance in Côte d’Ivoire: Projections from mathematical models and evidence from clinical studies

Vaccines reduce the spread of drug-resistant infections and antibiotic use.

Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV)

• Drug-resistant typhoid is a growing public health concern in Côte d’Ivoire.
• TCV is not yet widely integrated into routine national immunization, but has strong potential to reduce AMR.
• A mathematical model predicts that TCV could avert 130,000 multidrug-resistant typhoid cases, 328 deaths, and 16,000 disability-adjusted life years over 10 years in Côte d’Ivoire.
• TCV could also prevent 148,000 fluoroquinolone non-susceptible typhoid cases and 448 additional deaths.

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines (PCVs)

• Acute respiratory infections caused approximately 34,000 premature deaths in 2016, including 8,000 deaths in children, in Côte d’Ivoire.
• PCV is already included in Côte d’Ivoire’s Expanded Programme on Immunization. Among children aged 24–59 months, 25.9 out of every 100 acute respiratory infection cases were treated with antibiotics.
• PCV vaccination could prevent 20.7 antibiotic-treated respiratory infection cases per 100 children, reducing antibiotic use and AMR risk.

Rotavirus Vaccine

• Diarrhea remains a major cause of childhood illness and antibiotic exposure in Côte d’Ivoire.
• Rotavirus vaccine was introduced in 2017 and is part of routine childhood immunization.
• Within the first 2.5 years after introduction, rotavirus prevalence among children declined by 69%.
• Rotavirus vaccination could prevent 9.2 antibiotic-treated diarrhea cases per 100 children aged 0–23 months, helping reduce inappropriate antibiotic use.

Malaria Vaccine

• Malaria caused 14,906 deaths in 2021 in Côte d’Ivoire and remains one of the country’s leading causes of death.
• Côte d’Ivoire became the first country in the world to introduce the R21 malaria vaccine into routine immunization in July 2024.
• The vaccine targets children aged 6–23 months and is administered in 4 doses at 6, 8, 9, and 15 months.
• Malaria vaccination is projected to avert approximately 834,000 malaria cases annually in Côte d’Ivoire.

Tuberculosis Vaccine

• In 2024, Côte d’Ivoire recorded 5,420 tuberculosis deaths and 842 multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB cases.
• BCG is already part of childhood immunization, but new TB vaccines for adolescents and adults are still under development.
• Future TB vaccines could help reduce dependence on second-line antimicrobials and limit the spread of drug-resistant TB.