Rotavirus Vaccine - Effectiveness and Cost

Effectiveness and Cost

A 2009 review estimated that vaccination against rotavirus would prevent about 45% of deaths due to rotavirus gastroenteritis, or about 228,000 deaths annually worldwide. At $5 per dose the estimated cost per life saved was $3,015, $9,951 and $11,296 in low-, lower-middle-, and upper-middle-income countries, respectively. The cost of rotavirus vaccination has fallen by 67 percent between 2006 and 2011 to USD 2.50 per dose, as part of an offer made by a pharmaceutical company to the GAVI Alliance. However, the vaccine is still more expensive than most other childhood vaccines included in the WHO's Expanded Programme on Immunization.

Safety and efficacy trials of Rotarix and RotaTeq in Africa and Asia found that the vaccines dramatically reduced severe disease among infants in developing countries, where a majority of rotavirus-related deaths occur. A 2012 Cochrane review of 41 clinical trials that included 186,263 participants concluded Rotarix and RotaTeq are effective vaccines. Additional rotavirus vaccines are under development.

Rotavirus vaccines are licensed in more than 100 countries, but only 31 countries have introduced routine rotavirus vaccination as of 2011. The incidence and severity of rotavirus infections has declined significantly in countries that have acted on the recommendation to introduce the rotavirus vaccine. In Mexico, which in 2006 was among the first countries in the world to introduce rotavirus vaccine, the diarrheal disease death rates from rotavirus dropped by more than 65% among children age two and under during the 2009 rotavirus season . In Nicaragua, which in 2006 became the first developing country to introduce the rotavirus vaccine, investigators recorded a substantial impact, with rotavirus vaccine preventing 60% of cases against severe rotavirus and cutting emergency room visits in half. In the United States, vaccination has reduced rotavirus-related hospitalizations by as much as 86% since 2006. The vaccines may also prevent illness in non-vaccinated children by limiting exposure through the number of circulating infections. In September 2013, the vaccine will be offered to all children in the UK, aged between two and three months, and it is expected to halve the cases of severe infection and reduce the number of children admitted to hospital because of the infection by 70 percent.