Impact of rotavirus vaccination on childhood deaths from diarrhea in Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Lanzieri, Tatiana M
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Linhares, Alexandre da Costa, Costa, Iolanda, Kolhe, Devayani A, Cunha, Maria Helena, Ortega-Barria, Eduardo, Colindres, Romulo E
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/947
• topic: Vacinas contra Rotavirus; Diarréia Infantil / mortalidade; Gastroenterite / virologia; Infecções por Rotavirus / transmissão; Infecções por Rotavirus / parasitologia; Mortalidade Infantil

Objectives: Rotavirus vaccination was introduced in Brazil in March 2006, targeting an annual birth cohort of approximately 3.5 million. We analyzed trends in all-cause gastroenteritis-related deaths in children >5 years of age during the pre- and post-vaccination periods.Methods: Data from the National Immunization Program and the Mortality Information System were used to calculate vaccine coverage and mortality rates related to gastroenteritis in children >1 year and 1-4 years of age, using population estimates from the census as the denominator. Relative reductions in mortality rates were calculated for 2007 and 2008, using the 2004-2005 mean as baseline before vaccine introduction.Results: Coverage of two doses of human rotavirus vaccine was 39% in 2006, increasing to 72 percent in 2007 and 77 percent in 2008. During 2004-2005, the gastroenteritis mortality rate in children >1 year of age was 56.9 percent 100 000, decreasing by 30 percent (95 percent confidence interval (CI) 19-41) in 2007 and by 39 percent (95 percent CI 29-49) in 2008. In children 1-4 years of age, the mortality rate was 4.5 per 100 000 during 2004-2005, decreasing by 29 percent (95 percent CI 10-49) in 2007 and by 33 percent (95 percent CI 15-52) in 2008.Conclusão: The decreased rates of childhood gastroenteritis-related deaths in Brazil following rotavirus vaccine introduction, particularly among children >1 year of age, suggest the potential benefit of vaccination.