PHARMA company CSL Seqirus has issued a statement that Dukoral (oral inactivated cholera vaccine) is in short supply, and will soon be out of stock in both single and twin pack presentations.
Wholesalers or travel clinics may have some residual supply in the market for a period.
Due to a disruption in supply from CSL's international partner, Dukoral is expected to be unavailable through to Jun 2024.
Cholera cases have continued to surge this year which has resulted in high demand for the vaccine in those priority disease outbreak areas.
Travellers to cholera-endemic areas should seek advice from travel health clinics to assess their personal risk and apply precautionary sanitary and hygiene measures to prevent infection, the company stated.
Such measures can include drinking bottled water or water treated with chlorine, carefully washing fruit and vegetables with bottled or chlorinated water before consumption, regularly washing hands with soap, eating thoroughly cooked food and avoiding consumption of raw seafood products.
According to the World Health Organization, vaccination should be considered for travellers at higher risk, such as emergency and relief workers who are likely to be directly exposed.
CSL has said it will continue to work with its supplier to access Dukoral for Australia at the earliest opportunity.
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