Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) vaccines: Priority activities to enable product development, licensure, and global access
Vaccine·
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.04.018
- PMID
- 33965254
- PMCID
- PMC8273896
- OpenAlex
- W3158968560
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The authors argue that vaccination could be the most cost-effective and equitable primary prevention approach for ETEC, complementing water, sanitation, and clinical care, particularly in low- and middle-income settings where need is greatest.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The article reviews the ETEC vaccine pipeline and outlines priority activities to advance development, licensure, and global access to ETEC vaccines, with emphasis on low- and middle-income countries.
Study design
The article is a journal review that summarizes the ETEC vaccine pipeline and presents an ETEC Vaccine Development Strategy framework for researchers, funders, and manufacturers.
Population and setting
The focus is paediatric populations in low- and middle-income countries, where ETEC-attributable diarrhoeal disease causes substantial morbidity and mortality.
Main findings
The review notes that ETEC contributes to acute diarrhoeal illness and to longer-term effects such as childhood growth, cognitive, and developmental impacts, while flagging data gaps on ETEC-attributable antimicrobial resistance. The WHO Preferred Product Characteristics are described as a reference point for pipeline candidates, and an ETEC Vaccine Development Strategy is proposed to coordinate research, product development, policy, and commercialization activities.
Public-health relevance
The authors argue that vaccination could be the most cost-effective and equitable primary prevention approach for ETEC, complementing water, sanitation, and clinical care, particularly in low- and middle-income settings where need is greatest.
Important limitations
The abstract highlights the need for additional evidence on ETEC disease burden, including links to stunting and educational outcomes, and on the contribution of inappropriate antibiotic use to antimicrobial resistance. This summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata and requires the original paper for decision-grade interpretation.
GIDS interpretation
The article is discoverable through classifier links on gastroenteritis, vaccination, antimicrobial resistance, treatment, health policy, and climate and environment, which may help contextualize it for reviewers tracking vaccine development topics. It is not linked to any specific country surveillance signal in the supplied metadata.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 13 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.