Rotavirus vaccine introduction in the Americas: progress and lessons learned.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, rotavirus causes approximately 15,000 deaths, 75,000 hospitalizations, 2 million clinic visits and 10 million cases of rotavirus diarrhea annually. Two safe vaccines are available that are effective in preventing severe illness. To date, seven countries in Latin America (Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela) have introduced the vaccine. For successful rotavirus vaccine introduction, the lessons learned re-emphasize the critical need for countries to have precise plans that will ensure technical, programmatic and financial sustainability of vaccine introduction. Of these lessons learned, programmatic feasibility and financial sustainability were particularly challenging for countries that were the first to introduce a rotavirus vaccine.
de Oliveira
Lucia Helena
LH
Immunization Unit, Family and Community Health, Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA. oliveirl@paho.org
Danovaro-Holliday
M Carolina
MC
Matus
Cuauhtemoc Ruiz
CR
Andrus
Jon Kim
JK
D000818:Animals; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization / Q000639:trends; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D022243:Rotavirus Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013020:South America / Q000453:epidemiology
D022243:Rotavirus Vaccines