Setting priorities for development of emerging interventions against childhood diarrhoea. Jnl Global Health, June 2013.
Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, et al.
An expert panel exercise was conducted to assess feasibility and potential effectiveness of 10 emerging health interventions against childhood diarrhoea. Twelve international experts were invited to take part in a CHNRI priority setting process. This group used 12 different criteria relevant to successful development and implementation of the emerging interventions, nine of which were retained in the final analysis.
They showed most collective optimism towards developing household or community-level water treatment, followed by sustainable, affordable latrine options; those two emerging interventions were followed by antibiotic therapy of Cryptosporidium diarrhoea, and oral or transcutaneous enteric vaccine development.
The second level of priority was assigned to probiotics and prebiotics; combination vaccine for Cryptosporidium, Shigella and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC); and to the use of anti-emetics in case management. The lowest level of enthusiasm was expressed towards the treatment or prevention (vaccines) of environmental enteropathy, CFTR inhibitors, and the inhibitors of intestinal epithelial secretion in the treatment of diarrhoea. The exercise suggested that there are relatively few novel or feasible interventions in the course of development to address the high residual disease burden of diarrhoea in children.
