07 Sep Vaccines Against Rotavirus Gastroenteritis Decreased Infections Even in Unvaccinated Kids
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Chuanxi Fu
Chuanxi Fu, MD.PhD.
Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
Associate editor, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Since 2000, the Lanzhou lamb rotavirus vaccine has been exclusively licensed in China for voluntary rotavirus gastroenteritis prevention, however, the effects of the vaccination on population health, including any indirect impact to unvaccinated individuals have not been evaluated.
In the study enrolled 33 407 patients with rotavirus gastroenteritis from 2007 to 2015 seasons in southern China shows vaccination effects in which the median age at onset increased by 4 months, and onset, peak, and cessation of incidence were delayed. The incidence rate ratio among children younger than 4 years and among children ineligible for vaccination decreased as citywide vaccination coverage increased, and the adjusted odds ratio for rotavirus gastroenteritis among unvaccinated infants decreased in areas with higher vaccination coverage.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: The Lanzhou lamb rotavirus vaccination, even with a low coverage, can provide certain population health benefits in preventing RV-GE among children in China younger than 4 years, including herd effects.
Free rotavirus vaccination needs to be incorporated into the Expanded Programmed Immunization (EPI) in China to effectively reduce deaths, hospitalizations, and outpatient visits due to rotavirus disease in China.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: Health providers and policy makers should clearly know that administration of vaccines can provide both direct protection to the vaccinee, and the indirect effects (sometimes known as herd immunity).
Future studies including clinical designs, epidemiological analysis and mathematical models for various vaccines’ indirect protection to the unvaccinated are encouraged, even under circumstances with low vaccination coverage.
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Last Updated on September 7, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD