Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines
Thermotolerant vaccines greatly improved the reach and impact of large-scale vaccination programs to eliminate diseases such as smallpox, polio and rinderpest. A recent study demonstrated that the potency of the Nobivac<sup>®</sup> Canine Rabies vaccine was not impacted following experim...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/5/3/130 |
| _version_ | 1797558917276893184 |
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| author | Ahmed Lugelo Katie Hampson Machunde Bigambo Rudovick Kazwala Felix Lankester |
| author_facet | Ahmed Lugelo Katie Hampson Machunde Bigambo Rudovick Kazwala Felix Lankester |
| author_sort | Ahmed Lugelo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Thermotolerant vaccines greatly improved the reach and impact of large-scale vaccination programs to eliminate diseases such as smallpox, polio and rinderpest. A recent study demonstrated that the potency of the Nobivac<sup>®</sup> Canine Rabies vaccine was not impacted following experimental storage at 30 °C for three months. We conducted a study to develop a passive cooling device (PCD) that could store thermotolerant vaccines under fluctuating subambient temperatures. Through a participatory process with local communities in Northern Tanzania, we developed innovative PCD designs for local manufacture. A series of field experiments were then carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of five PCDs for vaccine storage under varying climatic conditions. Following iterative improvement, a final prototype “Zeepot Clay” was developed at the cost of US$11 per unit. During a further field-testing phase over a 12-month period, the internal temperature of the device remained below 26 °C, despite ambient temperatures exceeding 42 °C. Our study thus demonstrated that locally designed PCDs have utility for storing thermotolerant rabies vaccines at subambient temperatures. These results have application for the scaling up of mass dog vaccination programs in low-and-middle income countries, particularly for hard-to-reach populations with limited access to power and cold-chain vaccine storage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:38:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-14ebaefb333d431582464bf0e8bff24e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2414-6366 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:38:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease |
| spelling | doaj.art-14ebaefb333d431582464bf0e8bff24e2023-11-20T09:46:20ZengMDPI AGTropical Medicine and Infectious Disease2414-63662020-08-015313010.3390/tropicalmed5030130Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies VaccinesAhmed Lugelo0Katie Hampson1Machunde Bigambo2Rudovick Kazwala3Felix Lankester4Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences Department, Ifakara Health Institute, 78373 Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaBoyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UKGlobal Animal Health Tanzania, 1642 Arusha, TanzaniaDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, 3105 Morogoro, TanzaniaGlobal Animal Health Tanzania, 1642 Arusha, TanzaniaThermotolerant vaccines greatly improved the reach and impact of large-scale vaccination programs to eliminate diseases such as smallpox, polio and rinderpest. A recent study demonstrated that the potency of the Nobivac<sup>®</sup> Canine Rabies vaccine was not impacted following experimental storage at 30 °C for three months. We conducted a study to develop a passive cooling device (PCD) that could store thermotolerant vaccines under fluctuating subambient temperatures. Through a participatory process with local communities in Northern Tanzania, we developed innovative PCD designs for local manufacture. A series of field experiments were then carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of five PCDs for vaccine storage under varying climatic conditions. Following iterative improvement, a final prototype “Zeepot Clay” was developed at the cost of US$11 per unit. During a further field-testing phase over a 12-month period, the internal temperature of the device remained below 26 °C, despite ambient temperatures exceeding 42 °C. Our study thus demonstrated that locally designed PCDs have utility for storing thermotolerant rabies vaccines at subambient temperatures. These results have application for the scaling up of mass dog vaccination programs in low-and-middle income countries, particularly for hard-to-reach populations with limited access to power and cold-chain vaccine storage.https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/5/3/130dog-mediated rabiesmass vaccinationthermotolerancerabies controlco-design |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed Lugelo Katie Hampson Machunde Bigambo Rudovick Kazwala Felix Lankester Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease dog-mediated rabies mass vaccination thermotolerance rabies control co-design |
| title | Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines |
| title_full | Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines |
| title_fullStr | Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines |
| title_short | Controlling Human Rabies: The Development of an Effective, Inexpensive and Locally Made Passive Cooling Device for Storing Thermotolerant Animal Rabies Vaccines |
| title_sort | controlling human rabies the development of an effective inexpensive and locally made passive cooling device for storing thermotolerant animal rabies vaccines |
| topic | dog-mediated rabies mass vaccination thermotolerance rabies control co-design |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/5/3/130 |
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