New Rotavirus Vaccines Seem Safer, Studies Find

BOSTON (AP) — Newer vaccines against rotavirus, a severe diarrheal disease in children, slightly raise the risk of a rare bowel problem that doomed an earlier vaccine, new studies show. But researchers say the modern vaccines are much safer and well worth this very small risk. Rotavirus kills more than 400,000 young children a year, mostly in poor countries. In the United States, good medical care usually keeps it from being fatal, but it used to cause as many as 1 in 10 hospitalizations of young kids. The first rotavirus vaccine came out in 1998 but was withdrawn a year later after it was linked to intussusception, a rare and serious twisted bowel condition. Doctors hoped that two newer versions — Merck’s RotaTeq and GlaxoSmithKline’s Rotarix, which came out in 2006 and 2008 — would avoid that problem. Research in other countries suggests that some risk persists, though. Two large studies out Tuesday are the first to look at this in the U.S. The studies, sponsored by the federal government, are being presented at a health conference and were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. One, led by Harvard University researchers, looked at nearly 1.4 million doses of either of the new vaccines given to babies in three large health plans. Researchers estimate there would be one to two extra cases of the bowel problem beyond what occurs naturally for every 100,000 recipients of the first dose. (Two or three doses are given, depending on which v...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Local News CBS Boston New England Journal Of Medicine Rotavirus WBZ Source Type: news