In Nagoya, Japan, hospitalizations due to rotavirus (RV) decreased sharply in children 2-4 years of age once the percent of infants vaccinated against RV climbed to around 80%. Few of these older children had likely received the vaccine, suggesting that they were protected as a result of herd immunity.
Rotavirus
Rotavirus hospitalizations cause significant economic burden due to work and school absenteeism
Children hospitalized with rotavirus in Norway were absent from daycare for 6.3 days, on average, and 73% of their parents missed work — for a mean of almost 6 days. These data, which can be used in economic evaluations of rotavirus vaccination, show that work absenteeism resulting from having a child hospitalized with rotavirus poses a considerable economic burden on society.
Immunizing children against rotavirus saves money and prevents hospitalizations and outpatient visits
Vaccinating children against rotavirus in Bangladesh would prevent more than 50,000 outpatient visits and 40,000 hospitalizations in children under five each year, and reduce treatment costs by US$5.8 million over 2 years — nearly all (96%) from fewer hospitalizations. Since this study didn’t take herd effects into account, the actual impact would likely be greater.
Immunization against rotavirus reduced hospitalizations in both children and adults via herd protection
Several studies in the U.S. have shown that hospitalizations due to rotavirus fell sharply in children too old to be vaccinated as well as in adults after rotavirus vaccines were introduced, indicating herd protection. In one large study, rotavirus hospitalizations in 2008 — two years after the first vaccine was introduced — declined by 71% in 5-14 year old children and by 65% in 15-24 year olds compared to the pre-vaccine period.
Immunization against rotavirus and gastroenteritis saves millions of dollars in healthcare costs each year
A series of studies in the U.S. estimated that the average savings in direct healthcare costs from rotavirus and acute gastroenteritis were between $121 million and $231 million per year once rotavirus vaccines were introduced.
Rotavirus vaccination prevents hospitalizations, ER visits, and outpatient visits, saving millions of dollars in healthcare costs nationally
A study of insurance claims in the U.S. for children under five estimated that, from 2007 to 2011, rotavirus vaccination prevented more than 176,000 hospitalizations, 242,000 emergency room visits and more than 1.1 million outpatient visits due to diarrhea — saving an estimated $924 million in direct health care costs over four years.
Immunization against rotavirus significantly reduced hospitalizations and emergency visits in children
Prior to the introduction of rotavirus vaccines in the U.S., there were an estimated 205,000 – 272,000 emergency department visits and 55,000 – 70,000 hospitalizations due to rotavirus in children each year. A series of studies found that hospitalizations in children under five due to rotavirus declined, on average by 80% from the pre-vaccine to the post-vaccine era, while both outpatient visits and emergency department visits due to rotavirus declined 57%.
Marginalized populations derive the most benefit from immunization against rotavirus
Children in the poorest 20% of households in Laos have a 4-5 times greater risk of dying from rotavirus than the richest 20%. Consequently, rotavirus vaccination was almost five times more cost-effective in the lowest income groups in the Central Region than in the richest households in the wealthier North region. Thus, rotavirus vaccination has a greater potential for health gains and greater cost-effectiveness among marginalized populations.
Rotavirus vaccine introduction reduces hospitalizations for infants and children
A study in four hospitals in Botswana found that over a two-year period following the introduction of rotavirus vaccine, hospitalizations from all causes of diarrhea fell by one-third in infants (0-11 months old), and by nearly one-quarter in all children under five years of age. Ninety percent of infants 4-11 months old in the study population received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 75% received both doses during this period. The vaccine’s impact was most apparent during the rotavirus season when the average number of hospitalizations from diarrhea fell 43% among infants and by one-third among all children under five.
Rotavirus vaccine in conflict areas saves lives and is cost-effective, even with low coverage rates
A two-dose schedule of rotavirus vaccine was estimated to be cost-effective in Somalia, where more than 20 years of civil conflict have significantly damaged the health system and vaccine coverage is exceedingly low. Researchers estimate that in 2012, routine use of rotavirus vaccine, even at low coverage rates, would have averted nearly 25% of deaths due to rotavirus diarrhea in Somali children under one year of age.