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StopCholera Toolkit

The StopCholera Toolkit is a collection of practical resources for the use of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) to reduce cholera mortality, prevent cases, and halt outbreaks.

OCV should be part of comprehensive cholera strategies

Learn the basics of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) through Wikipedia and then find out more through the StopCholera FAQ page, factsheet, and resources page.

A Deadly Disease

Cholera Affects Millions Each Year

An estimated 3 to 5 million cholera cases and about 120,000 cholera deaths occurr every year worldwide. The Cholera Treatment Center in Beira, Mozambique runs steadily during a cholera outbreak. © 2004 Lorenz von Seidlein.

Many Lack Safe Water and Sanitation

Oral Cholera Vaccines Can Help Save Lives

Oral cholera vaccine (OCV) is an important tool to control cholera and should be used in conjunction with conventional control measures. A Haitian child receives oral cholera vaccine during a campaign that successfully reached over 40,000 people during the cholera outbreak in 2012. © 2012 Jon Lascher, Partners In Health.

GAVI Alliance Invests in OCV Stockpile

On 22-Nov-2013, GAVI committed funds to support increasing the stockpile of oral cholera vaccines, ensuring that millions more doses of life-saving vaccine will be delivered to those in need. Integrating vaccine into cholera programs can help #stopcholera. Press Release. ©2005 Lorenz von Seidlein.

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Latest Updates

Blog post May 31, 2017

Expanding Access to the Oral Cholera Vaccine

Members of the Malawi field team who visited pregnant women monthly to check on status of pregnancy and encourage them to go for pre-natal visits

This post originally appeared on Johns Hopkins' The Globe.

A new study by a team of Hopkins faculty and students led by Dr. Mohammad Ali, a senior scientist in International Health, found significant evidence that the oral killed whole-cell cholera vaccine is safe to administer during pregnancy.

Cholera affects about 2.5 million people a year, and, if untreated, the disease can be fatal in a matter of hours. As a result, around 100,000 people—overwhelmingly the world’s most vulnerable—die every year because they have no access to care (1). Among pregnant women, cholera can increase the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth by up to 36 percent. Yet, pregnant women have largely been excluded from vaccination campaigns because little evidence has been available to confirm that it is safe for fetuses (2) —leaving both the women and their pregnancies less protected from the disease.
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Blog post May 22, 2017

How Valid is a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) When Monitoring Cholera Care?

David A. Sack, MD

Professor | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Cholera Outbreak in Sierra Leone, Photo: Caroline Thomas, MSF, 2012

This post originally appeared on the CORE Group M&E Working Group list serv.

Many serious diseases report a case fatality rate (CFR) to illustrate the severity of the infection or to monitor the effectiveness of treatment. However, when examining a CFR, one may need to dig a bit deeper to understand how the rate is determined. As with any rate, the CFR is calculated from a numerator and a denominator. Generally, the denominator is the number of people with the disease who are diagnosed as having the disease, often counted at the hospital or clinic. The numerator is the number of people, among those who are diagnosed, who die:
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Blog post April 27, 2017

This World Immunization Week, Learn Why Oral Cholera Vaccine is Vital in Saving Lives

This World Immunization Week, the DOVE Project wanted to share why the oral cholera vaccine is so vital to saving lives around the world. We put together an infographic that illustrates what OCV is, when it should be used, and how it is being used globally. For easy promotion on social media, please visit us on Twitter @STOPCholera.
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Blog post April 11, 2017

Reflections on an Oral Cholera Vaccine Campaign in War-Torn South Sudan

Ella Glass, RN

Health Manager - Emergency Response Team, South Sudan | Medair

A child receives oral cholera vaccine in South Sudan. Photo: Ella Glass, Courtesy of Medair (2017)

Ella Glass reflects on her experience conducting a mass cholera vaccination campaign alongside a World Food Programme headcount in a difficult-to-access area in South Sudan.

At dawn on the headcount day, as the teams crossed the vast field carrying supplies for the day ahead, the sun was just rising on the horizon. It was a beautiful large orange glowing ball, casting out a soft golden glow as far as my eye could see. Women we had hired to carry items were walking in front of me, effortlessly balancing 20kg boxes of vaccines and tables on their heads as they walked barefoot across the dusty, scorched earth. Looking up from the ground, in front of us were thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children, having camped out overnight to be earlier in the queues. It was really quite astonishing. The overwhelming incredible needs of this population were staring me right in the face and I could feel a small lump at the back of my throat.
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Blog post February 16, 2017

Reflections on the 2017 US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program in Seoul

David A. Sack, MD

Professor | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dove team at the US-Japan 2017 meeting.

This year’s US- Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program cholera panel marked the 51^st year since the cooperative meeting began. Looking back on the conference proceedings, you can trace the progress of cholera and enteric disease research over the past 51 years. The conference has provided the space to share information on improved treatments, including a presentation on the historic, ground-breaking discovery of oral rehydration therapy in 1968, the failure of the old injectable cholera vaccine, and more recently, the successes of the new oral cholera vaccine.
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Blog post January 25, 2017

Learn How to Use the Crystal VC Dipstick Test to Detect Vibrio Cholera in Our New Video

David A. Sack, MD

Professor | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Sack shows how to use the Crystal VC dipstick test

In many countries, public health workers have to wait days in order to obtain the results of a cholera diagnosis from a stool culture, which requires laboratory facilities. However, with the Crystal VC dipstick test, health workers can test a stool sample for cholera and receive a preliminary result in minutes and a confirmatory result in a few hours.
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Work Together. Stop Transmission. End Deaths.

StopCholera.org and the StopCholera Toolkit are a collection of practical tools and new resources created for the use of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) as part of an integrated strategy to reduce cholera mortality, prevent cases, and halt outbreaks.

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