Rotavirus test results

According to the BBC:

The New England Journal of Medicine reports on tests of vaccines Rotateq and Rotarix involving 130,000 children. The studies found them to be 98% and 85% effective respectively, it says."Both vaccines will need to demonstrate their efficacy in the difficult settings of developing countries if we are to achieve our goal of maximally decreasing global deaths from diarrhoea."Dr David Brown, from the Health Protection Agency said: "The results of these large studies are significant because they demonstrate that these two vaccines have good efficacy against severe rotavirus disease and are not associated with intussusception."

An editorial in the NEJM accompanying the study raises some outstanding issues facing these vaccine candidates:

For the developed world, issues of price, acceptability, public awareness, and fear of intussusception will need to be addressed before the effect of this vaccine will be fully felt. The key question for the global community will be to determine whether these vaccines work equally well among the poorest children in the developing world.

It goes on to state that:

Once the efficacy of these vaccines can be established in these populations, mechanisms to finance the introduction of vaccines, ensure a sustainable and affordable supply of vaccines, and expedite the introduction of these vaccines into routine immunization programs should become a global priority... With the successful introduction of rotavirus vaccines in industrialized countries, the global health community will be charged with expediting the availability of these lifesaving vaccines at an affordable price in the developing world. After a long period of waiting, the time for a rotavirus vaccine may have finally arrived.

One startling outcome of the study is the realization that rotavirus may account for a larger proportion of severe diarrhea than the previously estimated 500,000 annual child deaths attributed to the disease.Another report can be found at the Washington Post; the Rotavirus Vaccine Program at PATH has also released a public response to the studies.