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 Reducing Diarrheal Disease With Rotavirus Vaccine

The rotavirus vaccine definitely belongs in our collective anti-diarrhea toolkit, along with access to clean water and proper sanitation, access to health services, and, of course, access to life-saving treatment with zinc and oral rehydration salts for when children get sick.

 Vaccine Kicked Rotavirus To The Curb In A Few Short Years

Within six years of the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, hospitalizations for the diarrheal illness had dropped by 94% and hospitalizations for overall gastrointestinal illnesses were cut in half.

Articles of Interest

Mixing and Matching Rotavirus Vaccines Is No Problem

The bottom line: if your doctor or several different doctors mix and match RotaTeq and Rotarix doses, your child will be just as protected as if they had received only one or another, and they won’t be at risk for any more side effects.

Mom Changes Her Anti-Vax Stance After Entire Family Gets Sick

Kristen O’Meara refused to vaccinate her children for more than five years. Then her entire family contracted Rotavirus, a potentially deadly stomach virus that can be prevented with a vaccination. It was a wake-up call she couldn’t ignore.

Rotarix

ROTARIX® is indicated for the prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis caused by G1 and non-G1 4 types (G3, G4, and G9) when administered as a 2-dose series.

Rotarix just as effective as Rotateq against rotavirus

Two doses of the monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1, Rotarix, GlaxoSmithKline) is more than 90% effective at preventing severe rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis, putting the vaccine's efficacy on par with the three-dose pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5, Rotateq, Merck).

RotaTeq

RotaTeq is a vaccine that can help protect babies against common types of rotavirus. Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe diarrhea in infants.

Resources

CDC

Rotavirus vaccine is the best way to protect your child against rotavirus illness. Most children (about 9 out of 10) who get the vaccine will be protected from severe rotavirus illness. While about 7 out of 10 children will be protected from rotavirus illness.

Gavi

Accelerating access to rotavirus vaccines, which protect against the most severe and deadly form of diarrhoea in young children, in countries where they are needed most is one of the cornerstone objectives of the Vaccine Alliance.

PATH

As promising as these vaccines are, they are not always available in the places where they are needed most. It can take a lot longer for vaccines to become available in the developing world—in the past, as long as 15 years. That’s why we established the PATH Rotavirus Vaccine Program: to make rotavirus vaccines available where needed most, as rapidly as possible.

Vaccines.gov

There are two rotavirus vaccines currently licensed for vaccinating infants in the United States: RotaTeq® (RV5) is given in 3 doses at ages 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months Rotarix® (RV1) is given in 2 doses at ages 2 months and 4 months. This first dose of either vaccine is most effective if it is given before a child is 15 weeks old. Children should receive all doses of rotavirus vaccine before they turn 8 months old.