London, Jan 28 (ANI): Rotavirus vaccine, Rotarix, could effectively reduce the overall incidence of severe rotavirus diarrhoea in developing countries, finds a new study.
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe, acute gastroenteritis among infants and young children throughout the world and is responsible for an estimated 527,000 deaths among children under five each year.
More than 90pc of childhood deaths attributed to rotavirus infection occur in developing countries.
Symptoms include severe diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to loss of fluid and electrolytes which can result in dehydration, shock, and death.
Developed by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK), Rotarix was tested in the Phase III clinical trial in Malawi and South Africa, which found that the vaccine reduced the overall incidence of severe rotavirus diarrhoea by 61.2 percent.
Although vaccine efficacy was lower in Malawi (49.4 percent) compared with South Africa (76.9 percent).
The vaccine could prevent more rotavirus diarrhoea episodes in Malawi because of a higher rate of severe disease in the country.
The new data informed a recent global recommendation of rotavirus vaccine by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"These data show for the first time that rotavirus vaccination can prevent severe diarrhoea in an African setting, where almost half of the total global burden of rotavirus deaths occurs," said Dr Nigel Cunliffe, Reader in Medical Microbiology at the University of Liverpool, who led the study team in Malawi.
"They demonstrate the large impact that rotavirus vaccines could have in countries with high diarrhoeal disease burden when introduced into their national childhood immunisation schedules," added Cunliffe
The research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (ANI)
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