The uptake of rotavirus vaccine and its effectiveness in preventing acute gastroenteritis in the community

Khitam Muhsen, Gabriel Chodick, Sophy Goren, Varda Shalev, Dani Cohen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We examined the uptake of rotavirus vaccine and its effectiveness in preventing acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in the community. Data on rotavirus vaccines purchases and AGE were extracted from the computerized database of a large health maintenance organization in Israel. The incidence of AGE requiring a physician visit during 2008-09 rotavirus season among vaccinated and non-vaccinated children were compared, and vaccine effectiveness was calculated as: (1 - Relative Risk) × 100. During the study period, the uptake of rotavirus vaccine (mostly monovalent) reached 55.1% (N=19,108) of the studied cohort. The risk of AGE requiring a physician visit was 23.2% and 46.4% among vaccinated and unvaccinated children, respectively, yielding an effectiveness of 50.1% (95% CI: 47.5%, 52.6%). Rotavirus monovalent vaccine was highly effective in preventing AGE in the community.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)91-94
Number of pages4
JournalVaccine
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 Dec 2010

Keywords

  • Acute gastroenteritis
  • Effectiveness
  • Physician visits
  • Rotavirus vaccines

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The uptake of rotavirus vaccine and its effectiveness in preventing acute gastroenteritis in the community'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this