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Many extremely low birth weight infants do not receive rotavirus vaccine
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Age restrictions prevent some extremely low birth weight children from receiving the rotavirus vaccination at discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.
According to study background information, “Unlike full-term neonates, preterm infants do not receive immunologic protection by transplacentally acquired maternal rotavirus immunoglobulin G antibodies and are at increased risk of complications and death from rotavirus infection.”
The prospective, observational cohort study included 213 very low birth weight (VLBW) infants discharged from the NICU at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas from May 2008 to April 2010.
Researchers found that 63% of VLBW infants did not receive the rotavirus vaccine. Reasons for not receiving the vaccine included: aged younger than 42 days at discharge (26%), older than aged 84 or 104 days at discharge (23%), or missed (16%). Most of the participants who were too old for the vaccine at discharge were extremely low birth weight (75%).
“Alternative strategies for rotavirus vaccination for VLBW infants in the NICU are urgently needed to achieve optimal immunization rates and protection from rotavirus disease,” researchers wrote. “The safety and efficacy of rotavirus vaccination provided to infants in the NICU, including those with gastrointestinal pathology, as well as vaccination of older age groups should be assessed.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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