September 3, 2010

Journal of Infectious Diseases special issue reveals significant rotavirus burden among African children

A special supplement of the Journal of Infectious Diseases published this week highlights surveillance efforts of researchers throughout Africa and the eastern Mediterranean to record and evaluate rotavirus disease burden and serotype distribution. Surveillance findings from more than a dozen countries revealed a greater prevalence of rotavirus than previously reported, with data showing that on average 40 percent of hospitalizations from acute diarrhea among children under five years of age were caused by rotavirus.

This dramatic incidence underscores the urgency to bring rotavirus vaccines to Africa, along with the tremendous potential that vaccination holds to improve child survival. With some countries gathering data for over a decade, researchers’ commitment to highlight the burden of rotavirus disease has yielded critical information that policymakers need to bring rotavirus vaccines where they are needed most.

The PATH Rotavirus Vaccine Trials Partnership is a collaboration between PATH, WHO, the US CDC, clinical study sites, and vaccine manufacturers. The partnership’s activities are funded by the GAVI Alliance.