Results from the trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated that two doses of the rotavirus vaccine candidate given two months apart at two and four months of age, gave 85% protection against severe rotavirus disease and 100% protection against more severe disease.
This protection was proven against the most common circulating strains as well as a globally emerging strain. A total of 63,225 infants from 12 countries were enrolled in the study.
“Rotavirus is highly contagious and infects virtually every child worldwide by the age of three years,” commented lead investigator Dr Guillermo Ruiz-Palacios, Instituto Nacional de Ciencas Medicas y Nutricion, Mexico City. “This vaccine has been shown to be highly effective in combating this disease.”
The GlaxoSmithKline vaccine is not approved for use in the US, however, it has been introduced in several markets across the world.