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December 06, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Evaluation of Rotavirus Vaccine Effectiveness in a Pediatric Group

Practice"

American Journal of Epidemiology (www.aje.oupjournals.org) (11/01/02) Vol.

156, No. 11, P. 1049; Mato, Sayonara Pérez; Perrin, Keith; Scardino, Dana 

Clinical trials are useful to test the efficacy of drugs and vaccines, but

they review products under optimal conditions with careful guidance from

administrators.  A better method to test medicines for the good of public

health is to monitor their use in clinical practice.  To that effect, a

rotavirus vaccine was observed in its effectiveness in the prevention of

rotavirus-related hospitalization in children aged three years or younger. 

Computer records from an urban pediatric practice in New Orleans, La., were

reviewed for children born between April 1, 1998, and June 1, 1999,

numbering 1,413 patients who could have received the rhesus rotavirus

vaccine-tetravalent.  Also included were hospital records of all rotavirus

hospitalizations during the period October 1998 to June 2001.  In all,

1,099 children were considered for the study, including 513 who did not

receive the vaccine and 586 who were vaccinated.  The rate of

hospitalization for rotavirus was 0.52 per 100 child years for unvaccinated

patients, 0.20 per 100 child years for children given one or two doses of

the vaccine, and 0.0 for those provided with all three doses.  The

protective vaccine effectiveness was 61 percent among children with partial

dosing and 100 percent among those with the full vaccine dose schedule. 

The vaccine prevented one hospitalization for rotavirus among 104 infants

partially vaccinated and one episode for each 64 children fully vaccinated.

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