In the Journals: Comparison of Sustained Effectiveness of Rotavirus Vaccines

In 2006, RotaTeq®, a bovine-human reassortant rotavirus vaccine containing five different strains (RV5) was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended for routine use as a three-dose vaccine to be given at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. Two years later, in 2008, RotaRix®, an attenuated human rotavirus vaccine containing one strain (RV1), was licensed as a two-dose vaccine to be given at 2 and 4 months of age.

In May 2016, Margaret Cortese and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) compared the short and longer-term efficacy of these two vaccines, now that they have been available for almost 10 years (Immergluck LC, et al. Sustained effectiveness of monovalent and pentavalent rotavirus vaccines in children. J Pediatrics. 2016 May;172:116-120). 

Researchers compared 98 rotavirus case subjects with 175 rotavirus negative controls in children who presented to one of three Atlanta hospitals. They found that vaccine effectiveness among children 8 to 23 months of age was 80 percent for RV5 and 84 percent for RV1. Vaccine effectiveness among children ≥ 2 years of age was 82 percent for RV1 and 87 percent for RV5. The authors concluded that the RV1 and RV5 series of vaccines “were both effective against moderate-to-severe rotavirus disease … and both vaccines demonstrated sustained protection beyond the first two years of life.”