Safety and immunogenicity of co-administration of meningococcal type A and measles rubella vaccines with typhoid conjugate vaccine in children aged 15-23 months in Burkina Faso.

OBJECTIVES The World Health Organization pre-qualified single-dose typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) and requested data on co-administration with routine vaccines. We tested co-administration of Typbar TCV® [Bharat Biotech International] with routine group A meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV-A) and measles-rubella (MR) vaccine. METHODS We conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Children recruited at 15-month vaccination visits were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive: Group 1) TCV plus control vaccine (inactivated polio vaccine) and MCV-A 28 days later; Group 2) TCV and MCV-A; or, Group 3) MCV-A and control vaccine. Routine MR vaccine was administered to all participants. Safety was assessed at 0, 3, and 7 days after immunization; and unsolicited adverse events and serious adverse events for 28 days and 6 months after immunization, respectively. RESULTS We recruited and vaccinated 150 children. Solicited symptoms were infrequent and similar for TCV and control recipients, as were adverse events (Group 1: 61.2%, Group 2: 64.0%, Group 3: 68.6%) and serious adverse events (Group 1: 2.0%, Group 2: 8.0%, Group 3: 5.9%). TCV generated robust immunity without interference with MCV-A vaccine. CONCLUSIONS TCV can be safely co-administered at 15 months with MCV-A without interference. This first study on co-administration of TCV with MCV-A provides data to support large-scale uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.