(January 27, 2010 - Insidermedicine)

Vaccinating young children against the rotavirus appears to have substantially reduced the risk of death from diarrhea among young Mexican children, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
 
Here is some information about the rotavirus:
 
·         It is a virus that is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children
 
·         About 600,000 children worldwide die each year from rotavirus infections
 
·         Infection is characterized by vomiting and watery diarrhea for 3 to 8 days, usually accompanied by fever and abdominal pain
 
Researchers from the Mexican Ministry of Health in Mexico City collected data on death rates from diarrhea among Mexican children under the age of 5 from 2003 to 2009. They then compared the death rates from 2003 to 2006, before a rotavirus vaccine was introduced for children 11 months and under, with those of the years 2008 to 2009, after the vaccine was introduced.
 
By December 2007, an estimated 74% of children aged 11 months and under had received a dose of the rotavirus vaccine. From the period before the vaccine was introduced to the period afterward, death rates from diarrhea fell by 35% among children under the age of 5. Among children under 11 months, who were eligible for the vaccine, death rates fell by 41%. Among children aged 12 to 23 months, only a few of whom would have been eligible for the vaccine, death rates fell by 29%. Among older children, who would not have been eligible for the vaccine, death rates were unchanged.
 
Today’s research demonstrates how the rotavirus vaccine can save lives if given to young children.