Rotavirus Vaccine

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New Rotavirus Vaccines May Prove Safe and Effective

Rotavirus Vaccines May Save Thousands of Infants Every Year

Recent studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that a new investigational vaccine may be effective for combating rotavirus.

Rotavirus is an infection that often results in severe diarrhea and hospitalization for children between the ages of six months and two years. The rotavirus is the most important viral cause of severe diarrhea in children worldwide. The symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. The symptoms are usually severe enough to require hospitalization and may last for 7 to 10 days. The diarrhea stools are described as watery or yellow without mucus or blood and can result in significant dehydration.

The Merck product, labeled Rotatequ, is considered a "live pentavalent human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine." So far studies suggest the vaccine is more than 98% effective in fighting this severe illness.

Doctors associated significant complications with the first rotavirus vaccine developed including a rare pediatric condition that resulted in a life-threatening bowel syndrome. Fortunately scientists have not yet confirmed these side effects with the newer vaccine.

The recent study evaluated the effects of the vaccine in more than 63,000 infants from 11 countries. Children received two doses of Rotarix over a defined period of time. The results of the study show that hospitalizations resulting from the vaccine decreased more than 40%.

The infants taking part in the trial ranged in age from six to twelve weeks old, with doses administered at four to ten week time frames.

Fighting Back Against Rotavirus
Why is this discovery so significant? Rotavirus is a leading cause of death from diarrhea among infants throughout the globe. It is vital that researchers develop new and safe ways to help prevent and combat this illness in infants.

Merck and GlaxoSmithKline recently conducted the trials and published their results in the New England Journal of Medicine just days ago.

The results so far are promising and suggest that a vaccine may soon be available to help prevent this serious condition in infants. Of particular benefit will be administration of the vaccines to developing countries where proper medical care may not be available to all infants suffering from rotavirus.

Studies suggest that more than half a million children die every year from rotavirus. This is one reason that a vaccine would be so highly prized. Among the more severe complications resulting from infection include constant watery diarrhea and vomiting. This in turn translates into dehydration, increasing the risk of mortality in children.

Even within the United States rotavirus affects more than 50,000 infants every year, with a majority needing hospitalization for treatment. Federal agents pulled the first vaccine produced in 1999 because health care officials believed it caused intussusception (a condition where the gut collapses on itself) newer studies suggest this complication is rare and may happen spontaneously in children with rotavirus. This may result from damage that already occurred resulting from the infection.

The good news is use of the vaccine may save hundreds and thousands of lives every year. Current studies suggest that children receiving the vaccine and a placebo experienced similar rates of intussusception (bowel problems), suggesting use of the new vaccine are safe. Doctors can give the vaccines orally, making administration easier than vaccines needing injection.

While the Merck vaccine proved slightly more effective than the Glaxo vaccine, both helped prevent rotavirus disease by more than 85% in the clinical trials.

The two vaccines carry advantages and disadvantages. Glaxo created their version of the vaccine from a weakened human strain of rotavirus, delivered in two phases. Merck created theirs from a bovine strain and it is taken in three doses. Studies suggest that Glaxo's version will be less expensive and therefore more popular especially among developing countries.

Scientists have been working on a vaccine for this illness for more than 25 years, so this study is a significant and noteworthy achievement in the world of modern medicine and disease prevention.