Vaccines for enteric diseases: a meeting summary

The 6th Vaccines for Enteric Diseases Symposium was held in Cannes, France, on 14-16 September 2011, drawing approximately 200 vaccine developers, academics and public health experts globally. Infectious diarrhea is a worldwide problem with high mortality and morbidity, particularly among children in the developing world. The WHO estimated approximately 8.8 million deaths in 2008 in young children aged 1-59 months, of which almost 2 million could be attributed to diarrheal illnesses - more than malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB combined. New breakthroughs in vaccine development, early clinical trials for the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Shigella, noroviruses and conjugate typhoid vaccines, and updates on the implementation of rotavirus, cholera and typhoid vaccines were reported.