Abstract
Rotavirus remains the most common cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhea among children worldwide. Several rotavirus vaccines are under development. Decisions about new vaccine introduction will require reliable data on disease impact. The Asian Rotavirus Surveillance Network, begun in 2000 to facilitate collection of these data, is a regional collaboration of 36 hospitals in nine countries or areas that conduct surveillance for rotavirus hospitalizations using a uniform World Health Organization protocol. We summarize the Network's organization and experience from August 2001 through July 2002. During this period, 45% of acute diarrheal hospitalizations among children 0–5 years were attributable to rotavirus, higher than previous estimates. Rotavirus was detected in all sites year-round. This network is a novel, regional approach to surveillance for vaccine-preventable diseases. Such a network should provide increased visibility and advocacy, enable more efficient data collection, facilitate training, and serve as the paradigm for rotavirus surveillance activities in other regions.
Highlights
Rotavirus remains the most common cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhea among children worldwide
Several international agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the Children’s Vaccine Program at the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), have identified the accelerated development and introduction of a rotavirus vaccine to be among their highest priorities
Preliminary data from Asian Rotavirus Surveillance Network (ARSN) reaffirm that rotavirus remains a major cause of severe gastroenteritis among infants and young children
Summary
Joseph Bresee,* Zhao-Yin Fang,† Bei Wang,‡ E.A.S. Nelson,§ John Tam,§ Yati Soenarto,¶ Siswanto Agus Wilopo,¶ Paul Kilgore,# Jung Soo Kim,** Jung Oak Kang,†† Wong Swee Lan,‡‡. Several international agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the Children’s Vaccine Program at the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), have identified the accelerated development and introduction of a rotavirus vaccine to be among their highest priorities. This decision was made based on the high incidence of rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children worldwide. Given the importance of rotavirus, GAVI has initiated the Accelerated Development and Introduction Program to expedite the development, evaluation, and introduction of rotavirus vaccines into the poorest countries with the goal of preventing most rotavirus deaths and hospitalizations within the decade
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