The Incidence and Burden of Shigella Diarrhea in Children Aged 6-35 Months: the Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) - Shigella Burden Study

Diarrhea remains a leading cause of death among young children, with the majority of diarrhea deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Childhood diarrhea caused by a type of bacteria called "Shigella" is responsible for an estimated 60,000 deaths each year and may cause particularly severe illness among children. Currently, there are several promising vaccines to prevent Shigella diarrhea in development, but key information is still needed to inform future vaccine studies. The purpose of this study, titled Enterics for Global Health (or the "EFGH"), is to determine the number and rate of new cases of Shigella diarrhea among children 6 to 35 months of age presenting to health facilities with diarrhea or dysentery. Over a two-year period, the EFGH study will enroll 1,400 children from each of the seven countries: Peru, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mali, Malawi, Kenya, and The Gambia (9,800 children total).

腹泻仍是幼儿死亡的首要致死原因，且绝大多数腹泻相关死亡病例发生在中低收入国家。由志贺氏菌（Shigella）引发的儿童腹泻每年估计造成6万例死亡，且可能导致儿童罹患尤为严重的疾病。目前已有多款处于研发阶段的志贺氏菌腹泻预防候选疫苗，但仍需关键信息以指导未来的疫苗研究工作。这项名为「全球健康肠道研究（Enterics for Global Health，简称EFGH）」的研究，旨在统计因腹泻或痢疾前往医疗机构就诊的6至35月龄儿童中，志贺氏菌腹泻新增病例的数量与发病率。该研究将在两年周期内，从秘鲁、巴基斯坦、孟加拉国、马里、马拉维、肯尼亚及冈比亚这7个国家各招募1400名儿童，总招募人数共计9800名。