A vaccine against rotavirus significantly reduced the number of deaths from childhood diarrhea in Venezuela, according to a study published in the tomorrow of New England Journal of Medicine . But critics say that the effectiveness of the vaccine has not been confirmed in the poorest countries, where inadequate nutrition could work against her, and they argue that most developing countries will not be able to pay anyway.
Nearly 00,000 infants and children die each year, mostly in developing countries, severe diarrhea caused by rotavirus infections. Although the virus infects almost everyone in the world, it only kills children. A child with severe rotavirus diarrhea can suffer from 10 to 15 episodes of diarrhea and vomiting every day. And although treatment with rehydration salts and the right food can save lives, researchers have worked for years on a vaccine that could reduce the severity of the disease, especially in poor countries health care and developing nutrition.
In the early 190s, Albert Kapikian and colleagues at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases developed a vaccine, and tests in Finland and the United States have shown that it could reduce the incidence of severe diarrhea. But in tests in developing countries such as Brazil and Peru, it has reduced the cases of 30% to 45%. Kapikian and his colleagues decided to create their own vaccine trial in a poor urban area near Caracas, Venezuela, with a dose 10 times stronger vaccine
Unlike previous trials -. Which counted all cases in which a child was sick and would not be detected a reduction in the severity of the disease - the researchers counted the number of cases where a child has been hospitalized with severe diarrhea. In the study of 20 infants, the vaccine reduced the incidence of severe disease by 88% compared to the control group. The only side effect of the vaccine was a slight fever.
But other researchers say diarrhea vaccine efficacy in Venezuela does not mean it will work everywhere. Richard Cash, of the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Institute for International Development, explains the impressive results in Venezuela could be due to better nutrition that strengthens the immune system, and a lower rate of overall diarrhea than Brazil or Peru. "What you really need to do is try to Bangladesh or in countries in sub-Saharan Africa where sanitation is worse," he said. Treasury also emphasizes that, at $ 30 per dose, the vaccine is too expensive for many developing countries, where five average annual health care spending only $ $ 20 per person.
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