Rotavirus Vaccines — A New Hope

Rotavirus gastroenteritis is the leading cause of diarrhea-associated hospitalization and death in children younger than 5 years of age,1 with more than 85% of the approximately 200,000 annual rotavirus deaths occurring in Africa and Asia.2 Since improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene do not prevent rotavirus transmission, as they do with the spread of bacterial enteropathogens, the implementation of a rotavirus vaccine is essential to prevent death and complications from childhood diarrhea. Two rotavirus vaccines — Rotarix (an attenuated G1P8 rotavirus manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline) and RotaTeq (containing five human–bovine reassortant rotaviruses, manufactured by Merck), attained prequalification by the World Health . . .