Infant Rotavirus Vaccination May Provide Indirect Protection to Older Children and Adults in the United States
- Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
- Correspondence: Ben Lopman, PhD, Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30333 (blopman{at}cdc.gov).
Abstract
(See the editorial commentary by Glass, on pages 975–7.)
Following the introduction of rotavirus vaccination in the United States, rotavirus and cause-unspecified gastroenteritis discharges significantly decreased in 2008 in the 0–4, 5–14, and 15–24-year age groups, with significant reductions observed in March, the historic peak rotavirus month, in all age groups. We estimate that 15% of the total 66 000 averted hospitalizations and 20% of the $204 million in averted direct medical costs attributable to the vaccination program were among unvaccinated 5–24 year-olds. This study demonstrates a previously unrecognized burden of severe rotavirus in the population >5 years and the primacy of very young children in the transmission of rotavirus.
- Received March 25, 2011.
- Accepted May 17, 2011.
- Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2011.
