recommended groups for cholera vaccination

Last edited 04/2019

• objective of the cholera immunisation programme is to protect those who are most at risk of serious illness or death from the disease
  • cholera vaccine is indicated for active immunisation against disease caused by V. cholerae serogroup O1 in adults and child travellers from two years of age who are considered at risk for cholera
  • immunisation against cholera can be considered for the following categories of travellers
    • relief or disaster aid workers
    • persons with remote itineraries in areas where cholera epidemics are occurring and there is limited access to medical care
    • travellers to potential cholera risk areas, for whom vaccination is considered potentially beneficial
      
      
  • individual risk assessment is essential, based on area of travel and any underlying health conditions
    
    
  • no traveller should be required to demonstrate vaccination against cholera. Officials at a few remote borders may occasionally ask people travelling from infected areas for evidence of immunisation. Travellers who are likely to cross such borders, especially overland, should be advised to carry a signed statement on official paper that cholera vaccine is not required
    
    
  • the vaccine is not recommended for prevention of the syndrome of travellers’ diarrhoea since it only protects against the heat labile toxin of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (LT-ETEC)
    • contribution LT-ETEC makes in travellers’ diarrhoea is variable and usually small
    • it is only one of the many bacteria, viruses and protozoa that cause this syndrome
      
      
  • vaccine is recommended for laboratory workers who may be regularly exposed to cholera in the course of their work. This would normally only include those working in reference laboratories or in laboratories attached to infectious disease units

For further details see British National Formulary.

Reference:

1. World Health Organization. Cholera. Fact Sheet 107. March 2003.
2. World Health Organization. Cholera vaccines. WHO position paper. Wkly Epidemiology Record 2001;76:117-124.
3. Immunisation Against Infectious Disease - "The Green Book".Chapter 14 Cholera (April 2019)