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ROTAVIRUS VACCINE IMPACT: TRENDS IN NATIONAL ROTAVIRUS ACTIVITY BEFORE AND AFTER INTRODUCTION OF ROTAVIRUS VACCINE INTO THE NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES, 2000-2012

Friday, 14th of June 2013

 

• TRENDS IN NATIONAL ROTAVIRUS ACTIVITY BEFORE AND AFTER INTRODUCTION OF ROTAVIRUS VACCINE INTO THE NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES, 2000-2012

Tate, Jacqueline E. PhD; Haynes, Amber MPH; Payne, Daniel C. PhD; Cortese, Margaret M. MD; Lopman, Benjamin A. PhD; Patel, Manish M. MD; Parashar, Umesh D. MBBS

Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

Abstract below; full text is available to journal subscribers.

Background: Rotavirus vaccine introduction in the US in 2006 led to substantial declines in rotavirus detections during 2007-2010. To further evaluate the long-term impact of the vaccine program, we assessed trends in rotavirus testing and detection in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons compared with pre-vaccine seasons from 2000-2006.

Methods: We examined data from July 2000 to June 2012 from 50-70 laboratories reporting to the National Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Surveillance System to compare rotavirus season timing and peak activity in the pre- and post-vaccine introduction eras. We restricted the analyses to 25 laboratories that consistently reported for >=26 weeks for each season from 2000-2012 to assess trends in rotavirus testing and detection.

Results: The threshold for the start of the rotavirus season was never achieved nationally during the 2011-2012 season and the 2010-2011 season was 8 weeks shorter in duration than the pre-vaccine baseline. During these seasons, nationally, the number of positive rotavirus tests declined 74%-90% compared with the pre-vaccine baseline and the total number of tests performed annually declined 28%-36%. The annual proportion positive at the 25 consistently reporting laboratories remained below 10% in both seasons compared with a pre-vaccine baseline median of 26%. A pattern of biennial increases in rotavirus activity emerged during the 5 post-vaccine seasons from 2007-2012, but activity remained substantially below pre-vaccine levels.

Conclusions: A substantial and sustained decline in rotavirus activity below the pre-vaccine baseline was observed in all 5 post-vaccine introduction years, affirming the long-term health benefits of the US rotavirus vaccination program.

(C) 2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.