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Rotavirus vaccine decreased hospitalization rates in parts of US
Payne DC. Clin Infect Dis. 2011;doi:10.1093:CID/cir307.
Vaccination against rotavirus dramatically decreased associated hospitalization rates among infants in three US counties, according to study results published online.
From 2006 to 2009, researchers, including Infectious Diseases in Children Editorial Board members Kathryn M. Edwards, MD, and Caroline Breese Hall, MD, examined the effect of the vaccine among children hospitalized for diarrhea and/or vomiting in the Cincinnati, Nashville, Tenn., and Rochester, N.Y., areas.
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Routine rotavirus vaccination of US infants began in 2006, and children aged 6 to 24 months are eligible for the vaccine. During the pre-rotavirus vaccine era, rotavirus gastroenteritis was responsible for 4% to 5% of all US pediatric hospitalizations and accounted for about 50% of acute gastroenteritis hospitalizations during winter.
In 2008, rotavirus hospitalizations among vaccine-eligible children decreased from 87% to 96%. The researchers noted specifically an 87% reduction in the 6- to 11-month-old age group, a 96% reduction in the 12- to 23-month-old age group, and a 92% reduction in the 24- to 35-month-old age group, which demonstrated a herd protective effect of the vaccine.
“The indirect protective benefits seen in older, unvaccinated children were not observed during the following year, 2009, when rotavirus rates increased disproportionately among this age group,” the researchers said. “These findings suggest that indirect protective benefits may have provided unvaccinated, older children a single-year deferral of exposure and illness.”
They said the predominant strains varied annually, with G1P[8] dominating.
Study researcher Daniel C. Payne, MSPH, PhD, of the CDC, said in a press release, “Continued surveillance is needed to further assess the role of rotavirus vaccination coverage, indirect protective benefits, immunity over time, and serotypic variation upon rotavirus activity in the United States.”
Disclosure: One of the researchers on the study reported having received research funding from Merck and GlaxoSmithKline.
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