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GlaxoSmithKline and Merck rotavirus vaccines found to be effective

Date published: 05/01/2006

GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Rotarix vaccine and Rotateq produced by MSD's (Merck Sharp & Dohme) parent company Merck have been found to be effective in treating children with the infection rotavirus, a major diarrhoeal killer of young children in poor countries.

A report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, following trials in 12 countries, found GSK's Rotarix protected 85 per cent of infants from severe rotavirus and 100 per cent against more severe rotavirus infections. Meanwhile Merck's Rotateq was found to have 98 per cent effectiveness.

David Matson, from the Eastern Virginia Medical School, author of the study into Rotateq, said: "This is good news for children everywhere. "In a matter of hours, vomiting and diarrhoea from rotavirus can lead to dehydration, which can result in hospitalisation and can even be life-threatening.

"Development of a safe and effective rotavirus vaccine has been a worldwide priority since the virus was discovered in the 1970s." Rotavirus is thought to kill about 500,000 children in the developing world each year and is responsible globally for a third of diarrhoea hospital admissions.

The New England Journal of Medicine's editorial, however, warned that vaccines would have to show their efficacy in the difficult settings of developing countries if the goal of decreasing global deaths from diarrhoea was to be met.

© Adfero Ltd

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