Rotavirus Prevention: An Overview
While it is important that you wash your child's hands (and yours) frequently, better hygiene and sanitation have not significantly reduced
rotavirus disease. A new, recently licensed vaccine is the best way to protect your child against rotavirus infection.
A New Vaccine Used in Rotavirus Prevention
The new vaccine, RotaTeq®, marketed by Merck & Co., Inc., is a live, oral vaccine for preventing rotavirus disease. It is the only vaccine approved in the United States that can help protect against rotavirus infection.
Rotavirus vaccine will not prevent
diarrhea or vomiting caused by other viruses, but it is very effective against rotavirus disease. Studies indicate that the vaccine can prevent about 74 percent of all rotavirus cases, about 98 percent of severe cases, and about 96 percent of hospitalizations due to rotavirus.
Earlier Vaccines for Rotavirus Prevention
In 1998, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a live virus vaccine (RotaShield
®) for use in children. However, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that RotaShield no longer be used for infants in the United States because of data that indicated a strong association between RotaShield and
intussusception (bowel obstruction) among some infants during the first 1 to 2 weeks following vaccination. The manufacturer withdrew the RotaShield from the market in 1999; it is no longer used in the United States.
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