Research Indicates Rotavirus Vaccine is Safe for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Infants
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New Delhi, Dec 9 (NationPress) A study published on Monday reveals that providing the rotavirus vaccine to infants while they are in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may be safe, which could inform a shift in clinical guidelines.
Conducted by researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the study found that the transmission of rotavirus vaccine strains within a NICU environment is infrequent.
The research team emphasized that the advantages of administering the rotavirus vaccine, which includes enhanced immune protection, surpass any associated risks. These insights could prompt a revision in clinical protocols.
Rotavirus is known to infect the intestinal lining and is typically marked by symptoms such as high fever, severe vomiting, and diarrhea. It is the leading cause of diarrhea among infants and young children, accounting for approximately half a million fatalities in children globally.
Typically, the initial dose of the rotavirus vaccine is administered to newborns at around two months of age.
Historically, many NICUs have refrained from vaccinating inpatients due to the theoretical risk of horizontal transmission of vaccine strains, where the vaccine virus might infect susceptible patients, as some vaccinated infants can shed live, attenuated rotavirus in their stool for weeks post-vaccination.
Delaying vaccination until discharge can leave vulnerable infants, who may experience prolonged hospital stays due to underlying health issues, unprotected from severe rotavirus disease, potentially disqualifying them from receiving the vaccine altogether. Previous retrospective analyses have indicated a very low risk of horizontal transmission within NICU settings.
The study, now published in the journal Pediatrics, evaluated 1,238 admitted infants, with 226 doses of the RotaTeq vaccine given.
In total, 3,448 stool samples were examined, including 2,252 from 686 unvaccinated infants. Remarkably, the vast majority of unvaccinated infants (681, or 99.3 percent) did not test positive for the rotavirus vaccine strain.
The remaining five infants did test positive for a rotavirus vaccine strain, yet none exhibited symptoms of gastroenteritis.
“Ultimately, these findings contribute to the existing safety data and indicate that the known benefits of administering the rotavirus vaccine in NICU settings outweigh the minimal risks associated with vaccine-strain transmission,” stated Kathleen A. Gibbs, a neonatologist in the Division of Neonatology at CHOP.
