scholarly journals Rotavirus Burden, Genetic Diversity and Impact of Vaccine in Children under Five in Tanzania

Pathogens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Joseph J. Malakalinga ◽  
Gerald Misinzo ◽  
George M. Msalya ◽  
Rudovick R. Kazwala

In Tanzania, rotavirus infections are responsible for 72% of diarrhea deaths in children under five. The Rotarix vaccine was introduced in early 2013 to mitigate rotavirus infections. Understanding the disease burden and virus genotype trends over time is important for assessing the impact of rotavirus vaccine in Tanzania. When assessing the data for this review, we found that deaths of children under five declined after vaccine introduction, from 8171/11,391 (72% of diarrhea deaths) in 2008 to 2552/7087 (36% of diarrhea deaths) in 2013. Prior to vaccination, the prevalence of rotavirus infections in children under five was 18.1–43.4%, 9.8–51%, and 29–41% in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Tanga, respectively, and after the introduction of vaccines, these percentages declined to 17.4–23.5%, 16–19%, and 10–29%, respectively. Rotaviruses in Tanzania are highly diverse, and include genotypes of animal origin in children under five. Of the genotypes, 10%, 28%, and 7% of the strains are untypable in Dar es Salaam, Tanga, and Zanzibar, respectively. Mixed rotavirus genotype infection accounts for 31%, 29%, and 12% of genotypes in Mwanza, Tanga and Zanzibar, respectively. The vaccine effectiveness ranges between 53% and 75% in Mwanza, Manyara and Zanzibar. Rotavirus vaccination has successfully reduced the rotavirus burden in Tanzania; however, further studies are needed to better understand the relationship between the wildtype strain and the vaccine strain as well as the zoonotic potential of rotavirus in the post-vaccine era.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palwasha Anwari ◽  
F Debellut ◽  
C Pecenka ◽  
S Mohammed ◽  
A Clark ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Despite progress made in child survival in the past 20 years, 5.9 million children under five years died in 2015, with 9% of these deaths due to diarrhea. Rotavirus is responsible for more than a third of diarrhea deaths. In 2013, rotavirus was estimated to cause 215,000 deaths among children under five years, including 89,000 in Asia. As of April 2017, 92 countries worldwide have introduced rotavirus vaccination in their national immunization program. Afghanistan has applied for Gavi support to introduce rotavirus vaccination nationally. OBJECTIVE This study estimates the potential impact and cost-effectiveness of a national rotavirus immunization program in Afghanistan. METHODS This study examined the use of Rotarix (RV1) administered using a two-dose schedule at 6 and 10 weeks of age. We used the ProVac Initiative's UNIVAC model (version 1.2.09) to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of a rotavirus vaccine program compared with no vaccine over ten birth cohorts from 2017 to 2026 with a 3% annual discount rate. All monetary units are adjusted to 2017 US$. RESULTS Rotavirus vaccination in Afghanistan has the potential to avert more than one million cases; 660,000 outpatient visits; approximately 50,000 hospital admissions; 650,000 DALYs; and 12,000 deaths, over 10 years. Not accounting for any Gavi subsidy, rotavirus vaccination can avert DALYs at US$82/DALY from the government perspective and US$80/DALY from the societal perspective. With Gavi support, DALYs can be averted at US$29/DALY and US$31/DALY from the societal and government perspective, respectively. The average yearly cost of a rotavirus vaccination program would represent 2.8% of the total immunization budget expected in 2017 and 0.1% of total health expenditure. CONCLUSIONS The introduction of rotavirus vaccination would be highly cost-effective in Afghanistan, and even more so with a Gavi subsidy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 669
Author(s):  
Héloïse Lucaccioni ◽  
Rita Sá Machado

Introduction: Rotavirus infections are a leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in children under five years old. In December 2019, Portugal announced the inclusion of the rotavirus vaccine, already available for private purchase, in the National Immunization Program. We present the first nationwide analysis of the burden and trends of rotavirus and acute gastroenteritis hospital episodes in children under five years old in mainland Portugal (2014 - 2017).Material and Methods: We used the hospital morbidity database and the Death Certificate Information System to identify hospital episodes and deaths of rotavirus and acute gastroenteritis based on the codes of the International Classification of Diseases. We described the number and rates of hospital episodes disaggregated by age group, sex, geographical units, and the seasonality and trends over the study period.Results: On average, during the study period, there were 1985 annual hospital episodes among children under five years old. The annual rate was 48.0/10 000 children (95% CI 46.9 - 49.0). Rates were consistently higher in younger children, and 67.8% episodes occurred in children under 24 months. We found a seasonal pattern with a major peak in the early spring.Discussion: Our results were consistent with the current knowledge on rotavirus and acute gastroenteritis hospital episodes in Europe. Additional studies are needed to identify the risk factors and high-risk groups for hospital attendance.Conclusion: Rotavirus and acute gastroenteritis hospital episodes in children under five years old in mainland Portugal represent an important health and economic burden. In the future, monitoring this burden and these trends in relation with rotavirus vaccine coverage could be useful in order to assess the impact of the vaccination programme on the change in hospital episodes.


Author(s):  
Erin M. Milner ◽  
Patricia Kariger ◽  
Amy J. Pickering ◽  
Christine P. Stewart ◽  
Kendra Byrd ◽  
...  

Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years of age, with most cases occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. Children in this age group in Africa are at greatest risk worldwide for developmental deficits. There are research gaps in quantifying the risks of mild malaria cases, understanding the pathways linking malaria infection and poor child development, and evaluating the impact of malaria on the development of children under five years. We analyzed the association between malaria infection and gross motor, communication, and personal social development in 592 children age 24 months in rural, western Kenya as part of the WASH Benefits environmental enteric dysfunction sub-study. Eighteen percent of children had malaria, 20% were at risk for gross motor delay, 21% were at risk for communication delay, and 23% were at risk for personal social delay. Having a positive malaria test was associated with increased risk for gross motor, communication, and personal social delay while adjusting for child characteristics, household demographics, study cluster, and intervention treatment arm. Mediation analyses suggested that anemia was a significant mediator in the pathway between malaria infection and risk for gross motor, communication, and personal social development delays. The proportion of the total effect of malaria on the risk of developmental delay that is mediated by anemia across the subscales was small (ranging from 9% of the effect on gross motor development to 16% of the effect on communication development mediated by anemia). Overall, malaria may be associated with short-term developmental delays during a vulnerable period of early life. Therefore, preventative malaria measures and immediate treatment are imperative for children’s optimal development, particularly in light of projections of continued high malaria transmission in Kenya and Africa.


Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Desormeaux ◽  
Eleanor Burnett ◽  
Gérard Joseph ◽  
Mentor Ali Ber Lucien ◽  
Negar Aliabadi ◽  
...  

Rotavirus is responsible for 26% of diarrheal deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean. Haiti introduced the monovalent rotavirus vaccine in April 2014. The objective of this analysis is to describe the impact of the rotavirus vaccine on hospitalizations among Haitian children younger than 5 years old during the first 5 years after introduction. This analysis includes all children with diarrhea who were enrolled as part of a sentinel surveillance system at two hospitals from May 2013 to April 2019. We compare the proportion of rotavirus-positive specimens in each post-vaccine introduction year to the pre-vaccine period. To account for the potential dilution of the proportion of rotavirus-positive specimens from a waning cholera outbreak, we also analyzed annual trends in the absolute number of positive stools, fit a two-component finite-mixture model to the negative specimens, and fit a negative binomial time series model to the pre-vaccine rotavirus-positive specimens to predict the number of rotavirus diarrhea hospital admissions in the absence of rotavirus vaccination. The overall percentage of rotavirus-positive specimens declined by 22% the first year after introduction, increased by 17% the second year, and declined by 33% to 50% the subsequent 3 years. All sensitivity analyses confirmed an overall decline. We observed a clear annual rotavirus seasonality before and after vaccine introduction, with the greatest activity in December through April, and a biennial pattern, with high sharp peaks and flatter longer periods of increased rotavirus activity in alternating years, consistent with suboptimal vaccination coverage. Overall, our study shows evidence that the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine reduced the burden of severe rotavirus diarrhea.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Hamid Reza Sodagari ◽  
Ihab Habib ◽  
Majedeh Pakzad Shahabi ◽  
Narelle A. Dybing ◽  
Penghao Wang ◽  
...  

Non-typhoidal Salmonella serovars are recognized as zoonotic pathogens. Although human salmonellosis is frequently associated with ingestion of contaminated foods of animal origin, contact with animals may also be a significant source of Salmonella infection, especially contact with turtles, which have shown to be an important reservoir of Salmonella, specifically through their intestinal tracts. Turtles are among the most common reptiles kept as house pets that may pose a public health risk associated with Salmonella exposure, especially among infants and young children. This review discusses the literature reporting the link between turtles and Salmonella as well as turtle-associated human salmonellosis in the last ten years. In most outbreaks, a high proportion of patients are children under five years of age, which indicates that children are at the greatest risk of turtle-associated salmonellosis. Therefore, turtles should not be preferred as recommended pets for children under five years of age. Reducing turtle stress to minimise Salmonella shedding as well as providing client education handouts at the points of sale of these animals may reduce the risk of transmitting such significant pathogen to humans. Further studies are required to investigate the role of both direct contact with turtles as well as indirect contact through cross-contamination in the transmission of turtles-associated Salmonella to humans.


Author(s):  
Tracy Morse ◽  
Elizabeth Tilley ◽  
Kondwani Chidziwisano ◽  
Rossanie Malolo ◽  
Janelisa Musaya

Diarrhoeal disease in children under five in low income settings has been associated with multiple environmental exposure pathways, including complementary foods. Conducted from February to December 2018 in rural Malawi, this before and after trial with a control used diarrhoeal disease as a primary outcome, to measure the impact of a food hygiene intervention (food hygiene + handwashing) relative to a food hygiene and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) intervention (food hygiene + handwashing + faeces management + water management). The 31-week intervention was delivered by community-based coordinators through community events (n = 2), cluster group meetings (n = 17) and household visits (n = 14). Diarrhoeal disease was self-reported and measured through an end line survey, and daily diaries completed by caregivers. Difference-in-differences results show a 13-percentage point reduction in self-reported diarrhoea compared to the control group. There were also significant increases in the presence of proxy measures in each of the treatment groups (e.g., the presence of soap). We conclude that food hygiene interventions (including hand washing with soap) can significantly reduce diarrhoeal disease prevalence in children under five years in a low-income setting. Therefore, the promotion of food hygiene practices using a behaviour-centred approach should be embedded in nutrition and WASH policies and programming.


Scientifica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Amood AL-Kamarany ◽  
Lina Al-Areqi ◽  
Abulatif Mujally ◽  
Fawzya Alkarshy ◽  
Arwa Nasser ◽  
...  

The study aims to assess the impact of rotavirus vaccine introduction on diarrheal diseases hospitalization and to identify the rotavirus genotypes most prevalent before and after vaccine introduction among children ≤ 5 years of age. Rotarix™® rotavirus vaccine is currently licensed for infants in Yemen and was introduced in 2012. The vaccination course consists of two doses. The first dose is administrated at 6 weeks of age and the second dose is completed by 10 weeks. Based on a longitudinal observational study, we assessed the impact of vaccination on rotavirus hospitalization before and after vaccination among children ≤ 5 years of age at the Yemeni-Swedish Hospital (YSH) in Taiz, Yemen. Prevaccination covered January 2009–July 2012 during which 2335 fecal samples were collected from children ≤ 5 years old. Postvaccination covered January 2013–December 2014 during which 1114 fecal samples were collected. Rotavirus was detected by Enzyme Linkage Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The incidence ofrotavirushospitalization decreased from 43.79% in 2009 to 10.54% in 2014. Hospitalization due to rotavirus diarrhea was reduced by 75.93%. Vaccine coverage increased from 23% in 2012 to 72% in 2014. Also, the results showed that the most predominant genotypes in prevaccination period were G2P[4] (55.0%), followed by G1P[8] (15.0%), while in postvaccination period G1P[8] (31%) was the predominant genotype, followed by G9P[8] (27.5%). In conclusion, rotavirus vaccination in Yemen resulted in sharp reduction in diarrheal hospitalization. A successful rotavirus vaccination program in Yemen will rely upon efficient vaccine delivery systems and sustained vaccine efficacy against diverse and evolving rotavirus strains.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrence Kairiza ◽  
George Kembo ◽  
Asankha Pallegedara ◽  
Lesley Macheka

Abstract Background: High prevalence of stunting in children under five years poses a major threat to child development in developing countries. It is associated with micronutrient deficiency arising from poor diets fed to children under five years. Food fortification is amongst the interventions focused at reducing the incidence of stunting in children under five years. Methods : Using a large-scale household data from Zimbabwe, we investigated the gender-based importance of household adoption of food fortification on the proportion of stunted children in the household. We employed propensity score matching to mitigate self-selection bias associated with household adoption of food fortification. Results: We offer three major findings. Firstly, we find statistically weak evidence that female headed households are more likely to adopt food fortification than their male counterparts. Secondly, food fortification reduces the proportion of stunted children in the household. Finally, in comparison to non-adopters, female headed households that adopt food fortification are more able to reduce the proportion of stunted children in their households than their male counterparts.Conclusion: The results highlight the need for policy makers to actively promote food fortification, as such interventions are likely to contribute to the reduction of stunting and to involve men in fortification interventions to improve on their knowledge and appreciation of fortified foods and the associated benefits.


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