Rotavirus Vaccine Could Save Millions of Children

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine described a successful trial for a rotavirus vaccine given to children in South Africa and Malawi. The vaccine, which was given orally, was able to reduce the incidence of diarrhea by rotavirus (or otherwise known as severe rotavirus induced gastroenteritis) by approximately 61% when studied in a group of children in a poor country in Africa. Much higher efficacy rates for the vaccine have been noted in modernized countries (usually between 85 and 96%). The reason why the rotavirus vaccine is less effective in a child in a developing country is unknown, but may be due to nutritional deficiencies and other co-existing infections. Personally, I believe that zinc deficiency exacerbates a variety of gastrointestinal disorders in children in poor countries in Africa, such as rotavirus induced gastroenteritis.

(Link to my article on Zinc Deficiency and Chilhood Diarrhea in the Developing World: www.associatedcontent.com/article/2066791/zinc_may_offer_new_hope_for_treating.html)

Approxiately 2 million deaths are caused each year by childhood diarrhea, most of them in the developing world. In fact, childhood diarrhea is the major cause of childhood death worldwide. Obviously, a vaccine with even 61% efficacy could do a lot to help save many of these children. In combination with zinc supplements, which can be provided in an oral form, the rotavirus vaccine could potentially be even more effective. Assuming of course that zinc deficiency is one of the main reason why children in the developing world have such high mortality rates due to diarrhea, as well as having high rates of diarrhea to begin with. Although the rotavirus vaccine used in this study was developed from a specific strain of rotavirus, G1P[8], the vaccine appeared to have efficacy against other strains of the rotavirus present in Africa. Thus, this successful real world test of the rotavirus vaccine brings it closer to being used on a large scale in public health projects in the developing world.

A previously studied rotavirus vaccine was shown to cause and increased incidence of intussusception, a serious gastrointestinal disorder than can potentially lead to death in children. However, such a side effect was not observed to occur with increased incidence with this vaccine. The study authors conclude that this vaccine should be considered for mass vaccination via public health programs in developing countries should funding become available, based on this study and prior studies.

Sources:

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2004/08/23/4270.aspx
http://www.nejm.org
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/362/4/289