Rotavirus Vaccine

A rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections, the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children, preventing 15 to 34 percent of severe diarrhea cases in the developing world and 37 to 96 percent of the risk of death among young children from severe diarrhea. It is given by mouth, requires two or three doses, and is made with weakened rotavirus, with immunizing babies also decreasing rates of disease among older people and those who remain unimmunized. The World Health Organization recommends its inclusion in national routine vaccination programs, especially where the disease is common, alongside measures such as breastfeeding, handwashing and clean water. The currently licensed live oral vaccine first became available in the United States in 2006, and it is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.