All infants should be immunized
against rotavirus gastroenteritis, the National Advisory
Committee on Immunization recommended on January 21.
Universal immunization of six-
to 32-week-old Canadian infants would prevent as many
as 56,000 cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis per year,
according to Health Canada. That translates to 33,000
fewer physician visits, 15,000 (or 94%) fewer emergency
department visits and 5,000 fewer hospitalizations every
year. The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
(CAEP) has heralded the recommendation, saying universal
rotavirus vaccination would greatly ease the burden
on emergency departments.
"Not only is it a common cause
of stressful and costly emergency department visits,
but its highly contagious nature makes it a common cause
of hospital-acquired illness for patients and their
siblings visiting the emergency department for any reason,"
said Dr Vincent Grant, chair of the CAEP Pediatric Section,
in a release that praised the NACI's decision as a positive
step.
UNIVERSAL
UPTAKE?
In clinical trials, RotaTeq has shown no signs of the
increased risk of intussusception — a potentially
fatal bowel obstruction - that doomed the first rotavirus
vaccine, RotaShield. That vaccine was withdrawn only
a year after it was brought to market in the US in 1998.
However, the vaccine's cost may
prove to be prohibitive. RotaTeq is one of the most
expensive vaccines to date, with a price tag of $165
for the three-dose orally-administered series. The Public
Health Agency of Canada will issue recommendations on
whether or not the vaccine should be added to the provinces'
list of publicly funded vaccines, but that process has
not yet begun.
The NACI recommendation pertained
only to RotaTeq, which was approved by Health Canada
in 2006. It made no mention of Rotarix, a similar vaccine
produced by a different manufacturer, which received
Health Canada approval in early January.
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