Protection Against Deadly Virus Just A “Vaccine Away”

A federal advisory panel has authorized a new dual-dose vaccine which can fight a common and potentially fatal virus that not just causes diarrhea and vomiting in children but also kills an estimated 500,000 children a year worldwide.

After the “super” vaccine Pentacel that reduces the number of shots babies and toddlers have to take to stay protected against deadly infections, this two-in-one vaccine is the second vaccine which has come up to safeguard the health of children and infants.

Infections caused by rotavirus are very common in infants and children.

Deadly Rotavirus is the prime cause of severe diarrhea in infants and children, but is better known as the cause of vomiting that often strikes children in the winter season.

Licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in April, the new two-dose vaccine for infants is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. Now the vaccine advisory committee has given a nod to the intention of adding the new vaccine to the list of recommended vaccines for infants.

In addition to the vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, the three-dose vaccine made by Merck & Co. (approved in 2006) has also been given approval to be added in the prescribed list of vaccines for infants.

Rotavirus causes 67,000 hospitalizations of children under 5 every year and about 30 deaths in the U.S. These hospitalizations and deaths can be reduced by administering the two vaccines orally to children and infants.

Normally the government appropriates the recommendations of the vaccine advisory panel that are further issued to doctors and hospitals but in this case the committee expressed no preference for one vaccine over the other.

The new two-dose version which is estimated to cost about $200 can be completed in four months, compared to six months for the older version. To relieve the parents, it must be reminded that Government endorsement of a vaccine usually means insurance companies will compensate for it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the virus follows a paradigm similar to flu season, but the 2007-08 seasons was the mildest in the last 15 years because the extensive use of older version greatly minimized the severity of rotavirus.

The government is surely waking up to ensure the good health of little ones. Now it is on the parents as to how well they respond to the efforts of government and lend a helping hand to make the life of the new generation disease free.