ATLANTA — Hospital-based data from New York and Texas underscore the importance of rotavirus vaccination for reducing disease burden and related hospitalization rates and costs.
The findings were reported at the fall meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Data from 11 sentinel hospitals in New York indicate that in children aged 1 month to 3 years, there was a 56% reduction in hospital admissions for diarrhea, and an 85% reduction in hospital admissions for rotavirus in 2008, compared with 2003–2005—a change that coincides with increasing rotavirus vaccination coverage. Total charges for diarrhea and rotavirus-associated hospitalizations decreased by $22 million and $12 million, respectively, in 2008, compared with 2005–2007, Dr. Hwa-Gan Chang of the New York State Department of Health reported.
He noted that significant reductions in rotavirus-related hospitalizations also were seen in New York among nonimmunized older age groups, which suggests possible herd immunity following the introduction of the oral three-dose pentavalent rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq (Merck & Co.), which was licensed in February 2006.
A project at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, which was funded by a CDC grant, showed that in children aged 15 days through 23 months, vaccine effectiveness was 85%–89% in both case patients (including 400 children who presented to the hospital emergency department with acute gastroenteritis) and controls (including 115 rotavirus-negative acute gastroenteritis patients, 228 concurrently enrolled patients with acute respiratory infection symptoms). The effectiveness rates, based on findings from February to June 2008, were comparable with prelicensure estimates, Dr. Julie A. Boom, director of infant and childhood immunizations at the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research of Texas Children's Hospital, reported.