A new study in the Lancet Global Health aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the monovalent rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) vaccine and the impact of Rotarix vaccine on rotavirus gastroenteritis hospital admissions among children younger than 5 years in Afghanistan. Researchers used a test-negative case–control design embedded in an active sentinel surveillance platform to evaluate vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization, comparing pre-vaccine introduction (2013-2015) and post-vaccine introduction (2019-2021) surveillance data. Two doses of Rotarix were found to be 45% effective against rotavirus hospitalization in children aged 6–59 months, adjusting for age, severity, admission year, and rotavirus season. Rotavirus positivity decreased from 51% pre-vaccine to 39% post-vaccine, resulting in a 39% adjusted reduction in rotavirus positivity among children younger than 5 years admitted with acute gastroenteritis.
Image credit: Palwasha Anwari, consent obtained for use
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