Rotavirus vaccination in last decade cuts AGE hospitalization

Decisions to introduce a new vaccine into a number of national immunization programs are influenced by many factors, including local disease burden, vaccine efficacy and safety, and the cost-effectiveness of the vaccines.

Introduction of rotavirus vaccination never started in earnest in Asia, a region with large birth cohort countries carrying substantial disease, but that lack has now turned an important corner, with India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh implementing or planning to implement rotavirus vaccination.

Also, two large African countries with high rotavirus mortality, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo, are approved for Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance) funding to introduce the vaccines in 2018. The dramatic impact of rotavirus vaccines on rotavirus-associated hospitalizations and deaths described by Burnett et al. support the decisions by these large countries with high rotavirus mortality to introduce rotavirus vaccines and will lead to greater global health impacts.

Countries considering rotavirus vaccine introduction now will increasingly have additional data on vaccine safety and effectiveness. Burnett and her colleagues’ review will likely provide important information to these national immunization technical advisory groups and other decision-making bodies. This review will also be important for the earlier-adopter countries by way of validating their earlier introduction decisions.

Finally, the information will be of value to Gavi, UNICEF, and other international bodies tasked with providing resources and support for rotavirus vaccine introduction in low-income and lower-middle income countries.

Anthony Nelson, MD , is in the department of paediatrics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Duncan Steele, PhD, is at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle. These comments were excerpted from an editorial accompanying the article by Burnett et al. ( J Infect Dis. 2017 Apr 18. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jix187 ). The authors had no conflicts of interest or funding to disclose.