New vaccines against enteric bacteria for children in less developed countries.

Diarrheal diseases represent a major threat to infant survival in less developed countries. A real opportunity now exists to help alleviate this problem through the development of safe and effective multicomponent whole-bacterial cell vaccine(s) against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Shigella, two important pathogens for which no licensed vaccine exists. What is preventing realization of this achievement is a lack of focus on the unique needs of children in less developed countries, along with committed and sufficient funding directed toward this goal. Live-attenuated and inactivated whole-cell vaccine candidates, some of which have languished too long, are available for testing, which, if performed in a coordinated fashion, can answer key unresolved issues concerning mucosal vaccination against enteric diseases. These candidate vaccines potentially provide a relatively simple intervention which could, if implemented, reduce the impact of these diseases upon the life and productivity of children.