 The
number of worried parents cramming your waiting room
with kids suffering from vomiting and diarrhea is set
to plummet. Merck Frosst's RotaTeq — the first
rotavirus vaccine to hit the Canadian market —
was approved by Health Canada in August, based on studies
showing the shot is 98% effective in preventing severe
rotavirus infections in infants.
Although the flu-like illness is
rarely deadly with proper healthcare, children can get
awfully sick. "Rotavirus is the main cause of diarrhea,
vomiting and gastroenteritis in kids under five," said
Dr John Yaremko, a pediatrician at the Montreal Children's
Hospital. "The combination of diarrhea and vomiting
make dehydration a concern." It's also incredibly common,
in part because the virus is so contagious: 95% of children
will catch it at least once.
RotaTeq's effectiveness was tested
in one of the largest clinical trials ever for a vaccine:
some 70,000 infants were enrolled in the study recently
published in Pediatric Drugs. Of those who received
the shot, 74% were completely immune to subsequent infection
and only a fraction of those who did contract the virus
became severely ill.
According to the US Center for
Disease Control, about 20% of rotavirus infections in
kids under five result in a doctor's visit and 10% end
up in the emergency room. About 2.5% of cases result
in hospitalization — the equivalent of 6,000 Canadian
children, according to Dr Yaremko. That's a serious
burden on our healthcare system.
The current cost of rotavirus infections
in Canada is estimated at $46 million per year. But
a vaccine could lop a good chunk of that right off:
the clinical trial boasted a 94% reduction in emergency
room visits and 96% fewer hospitalizations.
Despite its low mortality rate
in Canada and the United States, rotavirus infections
are often deadly in developing countries. "In Canada,"
explained Dr Yaremko, "one in 105 kids under five is
admitted for dehydration. In developing countries, one
in 105 will die."
RotaTeq isn't the first rotavirus
vaccine to be developed. In 1998, the FDA approved Rotashield,
which was withdrawn just over a year later due to reports
of intussusception — the inversion of one portion
of the intestine within another. Neither RotaTeq nor
Rotarix, a similar vaccine being developed by GlaxoSmithKline
that's expected to be approved shortly, appear to increase
the risk of this condition, but the WHO has recommended
both continue to be monitored just to be sure.
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