Rotavirus vaccination effective in preventing hospitalization

Highlights from the 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America held in Philadelphia, October 29 to November 1, 2009

Rotavirus vaccination is 90% effective in preventing hospitalization of children aged 8 weeks to 3 years, according to a study by Desai et al presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

The ongoing study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccine by severity of illness, by type and number of doses administered, among different risk groups, and against vaccine and nonvaccine serotypes. In addition, the authors assessed the relationship between rotavirus viremia and severity of illness.

“Thus far, we’ve enrolled 42 cases, 83 hospitalized controls and 45 community controls,” the study authors said. Of subjects with complete medical record review, 3 of 35 cases (9%), 18 of 69 hospitalized controls (31%, P=.036) and 4 of 27 community controls (15%, P=.441) received at least one dose of rotavirus vaccine.

Stool samples revealed the presence of G1, G2 and G3 serotypes.

When comparing cases vs. hospitalized controls, “Preliminary vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization with rotavirus gastroenteritis in children receiving at least one dose of rotavirus vaccine was 90.0%," the study authors said. When comparing cases vs. community controls, vaccine effectiveness was 68.6%.

Impact in Utah

Another study presented at IDSA described the impact of rotavirus vaccination in two Utah hospitals.

Herrera Guerra et al analyzed data of children younger than 5 years from two hospitals, a tertiary care hospital and a community hospital, who had laboratory-confirmed rotavirus infection.

Six consecutive rotavirus seasons from July 2003 to April 2009 were evaluated. Children were considered inpatients if the duration of their hospital stay was 24 hours or more.

“Following introduction of rotavirus vaccine, there were 73% to 89% reductions in admissions, outpatient visits and hospital costs for rotavirus in both a children’s hospital and a community hospital,” the study authors said.

Reduction in rotavirus burden

Cortese et al found a marked reduction of rotavirus burden in 2007 to 2008 in the four regions of the United States.

In a study evaluating two national third-party payer medical claims databases, research showed that “the typical winter-spring gastroenteritis peak due to rotavirus was nearly flattened in 2007-2008,” in the South, Northeast, and Midwest, according to the study authors. Disease reductions in the West were not as high as in the other regions, however.

“Monitoring over several seasons will be necessary to fully assess the impact of the national rotavirus vaccine program and the sustainability of its benefits,” the study authors said.

For more information:

Desai SN, Shapiro ED, Dennehy PH, et al. Effectiveness of rotavirus vaccine in preventing hospitalization of young children. Poster presented at: 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; Oct. 31, 2009; Philadelphia.
Herrera Guerra AA, Pavia AT, Thorell EA, et al. Impact of rotavirus vaccination in two Utah hospitals. Poster presented at: 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; Oct. 31, 2009; Philadelphia.
Cortese M, Tate J, Simonsen L, et al. Reduction in gastroenteritis in children and correlation with rotavirus vaccine uptake from a national medical claims database. Poster presented at: 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; Oct. 31, 2009; Philadelphia.