Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:
Rotavirus Vaccination
Pronounced "row-tuh-virus"
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea) among children worldwide. The rotavirus vaccine currently licensed in the United States, Rotateq, has shown to be quite effective against rotavirus disease. This vaccine will prevent 74 percent of all rotavirus cases, about 98 percent of severe cases, and about 96 percent of hospitalizations due to rotavirus.
Unusual Rotavirus Season May Be Due to Newly Introduced Vaccine
CDC has issued an interim report describing marked changes in rotavirus activity in the ongoing 2007–08 U.S. rotavirus season. The report indicates that rotavirus activity started considerably later and was much less extensive compared with activity in previous years. These changes coincide with increasing use of rotavirus vaccine among infants. For More Information
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CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE:
What You Should Know:
For Health Professionals:
For the Media:
What You Should Know
- CDC's official Rotavirus Disease website
Symptoms, treatment, transmission, etc. - Questions and Answers about the Disease
- Questions and Answers about Intussusception
- Pictures of Rotavirus
Warning: Some of these photos are quite graphic.
- Intussusception and Rotavirus Vaccine
- Frequently Asked Questions about Intussusception & RotaTeq® Vaccine
As with all vaccines, there can be minor reactions, including pain and redness at the injection site, headache, fatigue or a vague feeling of discomfort.
- Are
vaccines safe? (exit)
FAQs on The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website - CDC's Vaccine Safety website
- Hot
Topics (exit)
Vaccine safety topics on The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website - Lessening the Pain of Vaccines (exit)
Techniques worth trying
For Health Professionals
Clinical
- Technical information
Clinical Features, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, etc. - NIPINFO answers your questions about Rotashield®
- Immunization of Healthcare Workers
- Proper handling of Rotavirus Vaccine
- Kawasaki Disease and RotaTeq® Vaccine (June 15, 2007)
Recommendations
- ACIP recommendations
- ACIP provisional recommendations posted July 1, 2008
- Multi-vaccine VIS updated with new information about rotavirus vaccines NEw sept 29, 2008
- AAP's guidelines on the use of rotavirus vaccine (279KB / 40 pages) (exit)
American Academy of Pediatrics - Standing Orders (exit)
- Contraindications
- ACIP - Vaccines for Children (VFC) Resolution
- Intussusception and Rotashield® Vaccine
The ACIP voted October 1999 to no longer recommend use of RotaShield® vaccine for infants because of an association between the vaccine and intussusception.
References and Resources
- Pink Book's chapter on Rotavirus (439KB / 12 pages)
Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases textbook - Surveillance manual's chapter on Rotavirus UPDATED August 2008
Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases textbook - Infection control guidelines
- National Rotavirus Surveillance
- World Health Organization (exit)
- PATH's Rotavirus Vaccine Program (exit)
- International Vaccine Institute (exit)
- CDC Foundation (exit)
- PAHO Rotavirus Surveillance (Spanish) (exit)
Provider Education
- Clinical education slide set (.ppt, 145KB / 27 slides)
(text only-version) (75 KB/ 9 pages)
from the "Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases" course - Podcasts
Materials for Patients
- Vaccine Information Statement (VIS)
- Rotavirus: Questions and Answers (50KB /3 pages) (exit)
Ready-to-print versions of one of the CDC-reviewed Q&A material located on IAC's Vaccine Information website (www.vaccineinformation.org) Dated 5/07
For the Media
- Kawasaki Disease and RotaTeq® Vaccine (June 15, 2007)
- FDA's public health notification: Information on RotaTeq & Intussusception (exit) (2/13/07)
- Press Release: CDC’s Advisory Committee Recommends New Vaccine to Prevent Rotavirus (2/21/06)
- Newsletter: Rotavirus Update (exit)
Note: The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) does not endorse or promote newsletters from sources outside the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These are simply listed for your convenience.
Non-CDC Link Disclaimer: Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization web pages found at these links.
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Content last reviewed on May 14, 2007
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases