Rotavirus vaccine cuts death risk from severe diarrhea

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Two studies demonstrated that inoculation of vaccines against rotavirus help reduce death risk from rotavirus-induced severe diarrhea in young children.

Inoculation of rotavirus vaccine in babies and young children could help prevent 2 million deaths from severe diarrhea over the next decade, according to two studies.

The studies published Wednesday in the New England of Medicine showed immunization with rotavirus vaccine cut deaths from diarrhea by 61 percent in Africa and 35 percent in Mexico.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children, which results in the hospitalization of approximately 55,000 children each year in the U.S. and death of about 600,000 children worldwide annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In one study, Dr. Kathleen Neuzil of PATH and the University of Washington and colleagues tested an oral rotavirus vaccine made by Glaxo in more than 4,000 infants in South Africa and Malawi.

Of the babies given the vaccine, 1.9 percent suffered severe diarrhea, compared to 5 percent of those who were given a placebo.

In another study, Dr. Manish Patel of the CDC and colleagues compared diarrhea and rotavirus cases in Mexico before and after rotavirus vaccines were used.

In 2007, 74 percent of children received at least one shot of rotavirus vaccine and the researchers found that 1,118 children younger than 5 years died in 2008 from rotavirus -induced diarrhea compared to 1793 deaths in 2006 when the vaccine was introduced.

By Jimmy Downs