Hepatitis E outbreak response in Fangak County, South Sudan | Joseph Aumuller

Hepatitis E outbreak response in Fangak County, South Sudan: coverage and acceptance of a vaccination campaign targeting women of reproductive

In response to the outbreak of hepatitis E virus in Fangak County, Jonglei State, MSF together with the Ministry of Health conducted the 2nd ever reactive vaccination hepatitis E campaign with the Hecolin vaccine. The 1st to target exclusively women of reproductive age.
To document this campaign, Epicentre conducted a cross-sectional cluster survey with a two-stage cluster sampling design. To complement the vaccination coverage estimates, understand perception of the vaccine, and the acceptance of the strategy to vaccinate only women of reproductive age, qualitative methods were utilized following the second round of vaccination. While community members reported high acceptance of vaccine, many were critical of the vaccine strategy targeting women aged 16 to 45.