Vaccination programs targeting rotavirus and pneumonia in children younger than 2 years both contributed to a “rapid and considerable” decline in the hospital burden of pediatric patients, both in relation to those diseases and overall, according to an observational study.
Three vaccines were added to the National Immunization Plan in Israel within a 1.5-year interval, between July 2009 and January 2011: rotavirus vaccine and the 7-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV). Researchers studied the population at the Soroka University Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, which was split roughly 50/50 between Jewish children and Bedouin Muslim children.
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The rates of rotavirus gastroenteritis, nonrotavirus gastroenteritis, alveolar pneumonia, and nonalveolar lower respiratory tract infections in the 37,591 hospitalized children younger than 2 years declined by 78%, 21%, 46%, and 7%, respectively, over the course of the study period. Outpatient ED visits for the same diseases declined 80%, 16%, 67%, and 13%, respectively.
The results are more evidence that rotavirus vaccine can help prevent diarrhea not caused by rotavirus and, similarly, that PCV can help prevent lower respiratory tract infections not caused by pneumococci.
Overall, hospitalizations and outpatient ED visits also declined significantly, by 11% and 12%, respectively.
“The impact of [rotavirus vaccine] and PCV may not be limited to prevention of diarrhea and respiratory disease, respectively. In one study, it was suggested that diarrhea may increase the risk of subsequent pneumonia in young children, pointing to potential synergistic benefits” of the vaccines, the authors wrote (Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162[10]:999-1007).
The study was supported by Merck Sharp & Dohme and Pfizer. Authors received speaker fees, research support, and consulting fees from those companies and from GlaxoSmithKline.