health
Vaccine decreases diarrhea-related doctor visits, hospitalizations
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 10, 2011
Vaccinating infants against rotavirus has resulted in dramatic decreases in health care use and treatment costs for diarrhea-related illness in the United States, says a study in the Sept. 22 New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers used data from a large U.S. insurance database to examine rotavirus vaccination rates between 2001 and 2009 among children 5 and younger. They also estimated national reductions in the number of hospitalizations for diarrhea.
They found that by Dec. 31, 2008, 73% of children younger than 1 year had received at least one of the three recommended doses of the vaccine (link). Immunized children had up to 58% fewer diarrhea-related hospitalizations than unvaccinated children between January 2008 and June 2009, the study shows.
Researchers estimated that the rotavirus vaccine prevented 64,855 hospitalizations and saved about $278 million in treatment costs between 2007 and 2009.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/10/10/hlbf1010.htm.
