New studies show rotavirus vaccines have led to dramatic reduction in US severe rotavirus disease  

The use of rotavirus vaccines in the United States has reduced hospitalizations for severe diarrhea by 70 to 80 percent and may have prevented illness in unvaccinated children by limiting the number of circulating infections. Several studies documenting these results will be presented this week in Washington, DC, at a joint meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (ISDA) and the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Before rotavirus vaccines were approved for use in the United States in 2006, rotavirus caused 200,000 emergency room visits and 55,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year. Worldwide, rotavirus is responsible for 2 million hospitalizations and more than 500,000 deaths annually in children aged five years or younger. Nearly all rotavirus deaths occur in the poorest parts of the world, and the dramatic impact of rotavirus vaccines in the United States is a strong signal of their potential in saving lives globally.

Typically, it can take more than ten years for new vaccines to reach the developing world, but rotavirus vaccines are rapidly overcoming this barrier. Low- and middle-income countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe have introduced or are considering introduction of rotavirus vaccines, with subsidized support from the GAVI Alliance. Clinical trials among impoverished populations in Africa and Asia also are evaluating the vaccines' performance in these environments. Results expected in 2009 will inform decision-making by both the World Health Organization and the GAVI Alliance.   

For more information, see the news coverage by the Associated Press or the ISDA Abstract Search Page (use "rotavirus" as your keyword).

 The PATH Rotavirus Vaccine Program is supported by the GAVI Alliance.