Médecins Sans Frontières - Hepatitis E Vaccination in Bentiu INT

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB222014

Date taken / Date Recorded 14/02/2025 12:00 AM

Country South Sudan

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Copyright /MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 1m52s

Maximum Size 1080px × 1920px 235.22 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist This is one of this maybe bizarre situations that we have where we have the vaccine available, but it's actually not used for those that are most in need. Two years ago, we conducted the first ever mass vaccination campaign against hepatitis E in Bentiu, displaced people camp. This is a large, over 100,000 people camp in the northern South Sudan. There has been a hepatitis E outbreak starting several months before due to a large displacement of population linked to the biggest ever flooding in the area.

Together with the Ministry of Health, we integrated the hepatitis E vaccination as part of outbreak control measures. It's the first time that it has been deployed where the hepatitis E outbreak was actually fully blown. We accompanied the vaccination campaign with the operational research. So, we really wanted to document the feasibility, the acceptance, but also how the vaccine works in this setting. We achieved high vaccination coverage. We also show that the vaccine is safe in pregnancy.
The hepatitis E is particularly deadly in pregnant women. And with this study, where we followed all pregnant women in the camp, whether pregnant or non-pregnant, and we were able to show that there is no difference in negative fetal outcomes between the two groups. And we also show that the vaccine is effective even after the first two doses of the vaccine. This is also important because the current recommendation demands the use of three doses of the vaccine. The third dose delivered six months after the first one, which makes it very difficult to implement in the mass campaign way in the outbreak settings. So, we hope that these findings will help support the use of the vaccine in future outbreaks and prevent deaths of pregnant women and others.