04 Feb Household Members Protected Against Some Rotavirus Infections When Infants Vaccinated
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Margaret M. Cortese MD
Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Cortese: The introduction of rotavirus vaccine in the United States resulted in a dramatic reduction in hospitalizations and emergency department care for rotavirus disease among young children, as well as provided indirect protection to unvaccinated peers.
However, what our study looked at was whether or not older children and adults may experience indirect protection from having children in the house who are vaccinated for rotavirus.
We used 2008-2012 Marketscan claims data to compare gastroenteritis rates among households whose child had received rotavirus vaccine with households whose child did not receive vaccine.
We found statistically significantly lower rates of hospitalization from rotavirus gastroenteritis or unspecified-gastroenteritis in vaccinated households among all persons 20-29 years and females 20-29 years during the 2008-2009 rotavirus season as well as males 30-39 years in the 2009-2010 season. Lower emergency department gastroenteritis rates occurred in vaccinated households among females 20-29 years during the 2009-2010 season and individuals 5-19 years during the 2010-2011 season.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Cortese: Making sure infants receive rotavirus vaccine not only provides protection to the vaccinated child and unvaccinated peers, but also appears to provide additional, indirect protection against moderate-to-severe rotavirus gastroenteritis in some older members of the household.
Young women are a particularly important group that seems to receive protection, as they may be the persons most frequently in direct contact with young children and therefore may be more likely to be exposed to rotavirus.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Cortese: Further assessments of indirect protection in older children and adults from infant rotavirus vaccination will be useful.
Citation:
Margaret M. Cortese, Rebecca Moritz Dahl, Aaron T. Curns, and Umesh D. Parashar
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Margaret M. Cortese MD, & Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (2015). Household Members Protected Against Some Rotavirus Infections When Infants Vaccinated MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on February 4, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD