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Introduction of rotavirus vaccine decreased hospitalizations
Two years after introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, researchers estimate that at least 13,000 to 20,000 hospitalizations in children younger than 2 years were prevented, according to recent study findings published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
“The overall impact of rotavirus vaccine in reducing the rotavirus disease burden will nevertheless be substantial in countries like South Africa, where most severe disease occurs in infancy and even if there is waning of protection in the second year of life,” researchers wrote.
The study included children younger than 5 years hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis that tested positive for rotavirus.
From May 2010 to December 2011, diarrhea hospitalizations among participants decreased by one-third compared with May to December 2009, the researchers found. Adjusted rotavirus hospitalizations were 61% lower in 2010 and 69% lower in 2011 among infants compared with 2009. Rotavirus hospitalizations were 54% lower in 2010 and 58% lower in 2011 among participants younger than 5 years compared with 2009.
“In conclusion, our data support that rotavirus hospitalizations have decreased substantially among South African infants in the two consecutive seasons 2010 and 2011 following vaccine introduction in August 2009,” researchers wrote. “Due to variability between the years, continued surveillance is required to fully ascertain the impact of the rotavirus vaccine. Particularly, it will be important to measure vaccine effectiveness in children aged 13 to 23 months to assess for any potential waning of immunity as well as ascertain that there is no shift of severe disease to older age groups because of transient protection conferred by vaccination.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.
