Abstract
In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of the RIT 4237 bovine rotavirus vaccine 741 babies were given a single oral dose of vaccine or placebo at 5 dys of age; one third of the group was given a second dose of vaccine or placebo at 7 mths of age. The children remained in follow-up for a mean of 2.3 years. There was a total of 502 diarrhoeal episodes in the group during the follow-up; of these 121 (24.1%) were attributable to rotavirus. At follow-up 17.5% of children had experienced an episode of rotavirus diarrhoea; no child had more than one detectable episode with rotavirus. Vaccine protection was analyzed using a severity score for acute diarrhoea. Vaccine-induced protection against severe episodes (score >9) was 79% and aginst mild to moderately severe episodes (score >4) it was 35%. The mean severity score was 6.5 in the vacinees and 10.6 in the placebo group. Protection was slightly better in the vacinees who responded serologically (mean score 5.9) than in those who did not; however non-responders were partially protected. A booster dose of the same vaccine did not improve protection. The prevalent rotavirus serotypes during the follow-up were type 1 (67 cases) and type 4 (14 cases); No difference in protection against these serotypes was observed. A single dose of a bovine rotavirus vaccine to the newborn induces protection against severe rotavirus infection.
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Ruuska, T., Vesikari, T. & Delem, A. 12. LONG TERM PROTECTION AGAINST SEVERE ROTAVIRUS DIARRHOEA BY A SINGLE DOSE OF BOVINE ROTAVIRUS VACCINE STRAIN RIT 4237 GIVEN IN THE NEONATAL PERIOD.. Pediatr Res 24, 655 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198811000-00034
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198811000-00034