Recommendations for vaccination against ROTAvirus in PREMature newborns (ROTAPREM)

Abstract Rotavirus (RV) is the leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in infants worldwide. Most children are infected by RV by the age of 5 years, and especially in the first 2 years. Two oral attenuated vaccines against RV are licensed in industrialised countries, which have proven to be safe and effective against the disease. The main objective of these vaccines has been to reproduce the natural history of infection and protect against severe disease in the first months of life. Preterm infants are at higher risk of severe RV infection compared to full-term infants and infants with normal birth weight. Data collected on RV vaccination in preterm infants demonstrated that RV vaccines are effective and safe, compared with full-term infants, with a marginal risk of horizontal viral transmission and dissemination when vaccination is performed during hospitalisation. Preterm infants frequently require admission to hospital after the beginning of the 12th week of life, which suggests that they should receive RV vaccines during admission according to the official immunisation schedule.